On Sunday, March 30, House Deputy Majority Leader Rep. Paolo Ortega (La Union) disclosed a new list of fictitious names allegedly linked to Vice President Sara Duterte’s P500 million confidential funds. Ortega described the names as part of a “team grocery,” with aliases resembling common food items found in Filipino households.
Alleged Beneficiaries Resemble Food Items
Ortega pointed out that the top name on the list is “Beverly Claire Pampano,” which is also the name of a popular fish sold in markets. Other names include “Mico Harina,” referencing flour, “Patty Ting” and “Ralph Josh Bacon,” which resemble burger ingredients, and “Sala Casim,” a term referring to pork shoulder used in Filipino dishes.
“These names, submitted to the Commission on Audit (COA), do not correspond to any official birth, marriage, or death records from the Philippine Statistics Authority,” Ortega said. He added that the absence of government-issued records indicates the names may have been fabricated to allegedly misappropriate funds.
Similar Pattern in Previous Entries
Ortega highlighted that previous records related to the joint confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), totaling P612.5 million, showed similar irregularities. Past recipients included names resembling snack brands, tech gadgets, and aliases that appeared to be made up.
Last week, Ortega also uncovered fictitious names listed under DepEd’s confidential funds during Duterte’s tenure as secretary. These included “Amoy Liu,” “Fernan Amuy,” and “Joug De Asim,” referred to as “Team Amoy Asim.” The names “Mary Grace Piattos” and “Kokoy Villamin” had previously been flagged, with the list expanding to include “Renan Piatos,” “Pia Piatos-Lim,” and several others.
Questionable Records of Alleged Beneficiaries
Ortega further revealed that out of 1,992 individuals purportedly receiving funds from the OVP, 1,322 had no birth certificates, 1,456 had no marriage certificates, and 1,593 had no death certificates. Similarly, House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability Chairperson Rep. Joel Chua (Manila, Third District) previously reported that 405 out of 677 names listed as DepEd beneficiaries also lacked birth records.
Impeachment and Legal Challenges
In February, the House of Representatives forwarded impeachment articles against Vice President Duterte, citing allegations of misuse of confidential funds. Duterte has since requested the Supreme Court to halt the impeachment proceedings. The Senate is scheduled to begin the impeachment process on June 2, with the trial expected to start on July 30.
Additionally, three petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the confidential and intelligence funds allocated to Duterte’s offices.