Vice President Sara Duterte speaks during a press conference at her office in Manila on December 11, 2024. Philippine lawmakers on February 5 voted to send articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte to the Senate, a day before the current congressional session was set to end. (Photo by TED ALJIBE / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� More names seemingly derived from food were found as 鈥渘on-existent鈥� recipients of confidential funds of Vice President Sara Duterte鈥檚 office, according to a lawmaker.
The list of questionable names includes 鈥淛ay Kamote鈥� and 鈥淢iggy Mango,鈥� according to House Deputy Majority Leader and La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V.
He also said there are five 鈥淒odongs鈥�: Dodong Alcala, Dodong Bina, Dodong Bunal, Dodong Darong, and Dodong S. Barok.
搁贰础顿:听House panel to PSA: Verify 1,992 names linked to OVP fund issue
鈥淔irst, we discovered names similar to junk food and cellphone brands. Now, there are fruits and sweet potato, as well as the 鈥楧odong Gang鈥� not only three but five Dodongs were on the list,鈥� Ortega said in a statement on Sunday.
鈥淲hat kind of payroll is this? Imaginary? We cannot determine if these people are real individuals who received money from the CIF (confidential and intelligence funds).
Earlier, Ortega bared names similar to chip brands and cellphones linked to 鈥淢ary Grace Piattos,鈥� one of the non-existent recipients of confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President鈥檚 (OVP) aid program. The names include 鈥淧ia Piatos-Lim,鈥� 鈥淩enan Piatos,鈥� and 鈥淴iaome Ocho.鈥�
Ortega said Jay Kamote, Miggy Mango, and the five Dodongs also have no birth, marriage, or death records at the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
In December 2024, the House committee on good government and public accountability submitted the names of 1,992 individuals linked to the alleged misuse of the OVP鈥檚 confidential funds.
Citing the PSA, Ortega said 670 of the 1,992 names had a 鈥渕ost likely match鈥� in PSA records; 1,322 individuals had no birth records; 1,456 had no marriage records (with only 536 possible matches); and 1,593 had no death records (with just 399 possible matches).
Earlier, panel chair Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua said 405 of the 667 names found on the acknowledgment receipts for the confidential funds of the Department of Education under Duterte have no record with the PSA.