The elusive “Mary Grace Piattos” does not exist, a lawmaker disclosed citing findings of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
On Tuesday, House Assistant Majority Leader and Zambales Rep. Jay Khonghun lambasted the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for claiming to have released huge sums of Vice President Sara Duterte’s confidential funds to a fictitious individual.
“It is disturbing that we have reached this level of lies. Government officials are supposed to provide correct information [but it turns out] Mary Grace Piattos is just made up,” he told reporters in Filipino.
In a certification document submitted to Congress, the PSA said it could not find a Mary Grace Piattos in the various Civil Registry System databases, which include Certificates of Live Birth, Certificates of Marriage, and Certificates of Death.
“However, if additional information such as the name of parents of the subject, date and place of the vital event can be provided, we can search further and be able to ascertain whether the civil registry document is available in the database,” the PSA further said.
Khonghun said that the PSA’s findings explain why no one took advantage of the P1 million reward lawmakers offered to anyone who can provide information on the whereabouts of the mysterious recipient of OVP funds – because she is a “fake” person.
“This is not just an issue of [confirming a person’s name]. This exposes a much deeper problem in transparency and accountability. If they [Duterte, OVP staff] can make up something like this, what other transactions could they be hiding?”
In view of the PSA findings, Khonghun called on Congress to intensify its scrutiny of the OVP, reiterating the need for transparency.
“It’s about integrity in public service. Congress has a duty to protect the people’s money,” he said.
The lawmaker also urged the government to institute safeguards against similar fabrications in the future.
He further noted that the PSA’s confirmation casts a shadow on the credibility of other records and transactions tied to the OVP.
Editor’s Note: This story has been retitled. Originally posted with the headline “PSA confirms there is no Mary Grace Piattos; Khonghun says the name was ‘an invention.’”
