Ramil Madriaga, who claims to be a former aide of Vice President Sara Duterte, is willing to testify against his ex-boss should he be called to appear in the impeachment hearing against her or by other investigating bodies, his lawyer on Saturday said.
Madriaga’s allegation that drug dealers and POGO operations funded the Inday Sara Duterte is My President (ISIP) Pilipinas national campaign was included in the second impeachment complaint filed by Tindig Pilipinas.
“Yes, he is willing. He will appear if he gets a subpoena,” said Madriaga’s counsel Raymund Palad, adding that his client might also be asked to testify by the Senate or the Ombudsman.
Duterte, who has since denied knowing Madriaga personally, dismissed the complaint filed by Tindig Pilipinas that was endorsed by opposition-backed party Akbayan, calling it baseless, politically motivated, and an abuse of the constitutional impeachment process.
In a statement, the Vice President said the complaint contained “no evidence” to support the allegations against her, arguing that it was part of a long-running effort by political opponents to remove her from office.
“The impeachment complaint endorsed by Akbayan is a piece of paper with no accompanying evidence to prove the accusations stated in it,” Duterte said in mixed Filipino and English.
“This is no longer new. It can be remembered that the impeachment against me was their response to my departure from the Cabinet,” she added.
But for Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima, who endorsed the second impeachment complaint, the evidence against Duterte is strong.
“We are confident that it is sufficient in form and substance to move forward to evidentiary hearings in the House Committee on Justice and to be transmitted to the Senate for trial,” De Lima said.
The Vice President again denied any wrongdoing related to the use of confidential funds, including allegations linked to the “Mary Grace Piattos” issue, saying no direct violation had been established despite multiple probes.
She questioned Akbayan’s credibility in endorsing the complaint, pointing to what she described as the group’s political ambitions.
“This is a form of harassment and abuse of the impeachment process by the Akbayan group,” Duterte said.
“It’s not clear what they are fighting for in the name of national order, but their political game and their coercion in our country’s diplomatic affairs are very clear,” she added.
For his part, Deputy Majority Leader Gil Acosta on Saturday said the House will first conduct a thorough reading and evaluation of the two impeachment complaints against Duterte, including the affidavit submitted by Madriaga.
“We will see because it has not been reviewed yet,” said Acosta, an ex-officio member of the House Committee on Justice.
