The existence of a “Budol Gang” [gang of con artists] that allegedly benefitted from P612.5 million in Vice President Sara Duterte’s confidential funds is growing with the discovery of the so-called “Team Amoy Asim,” La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V said yesterday.
As part of an ongoing continuing inquiry into the list of recipients of confidential funds from the Department of Education, the lawmaker bared a new set of highly dubious names.
The newly surfaced names included Amoy Liu, Fernan Amuy and Joug de Asim, he said.
Apart from the “now-notorious” Mary Grace Piattos, other Budol Gang members were also revealed, including Renan Piatos, Pia Piattos-Lim, Xiaomi Ocho, Jay Kamote, Miggy Mango, and five individuals all named Dodong as alleged beneficiaries of the Office of the Vice President’s confidential funds, he said.
Liu, Amuy and De Asim likewise have no birth, marriage, or death records in the Philippine Statistics Authority’s database, he added.
The names were submitted by the OVP and DepEd to the Commission on Audit.
Their absence from public records raises serious questions about the legitimacy of the fund disbursements, Ortega pointed out.
Out of 1,992 supposed recipients of confidential funds at OVP, Ortega said 1,322 had no birth records, 1,456 had no marriage records, and 1,593 had no death records.
Manila Rep. Joel Chua, committee on Good government and public accountability chairman, previously said 405 out of the 677 names listed as beneficiaries of DepEd’s confidential funds under Vice President Duterte had no birth records.
“What kind of a payroll is that? All names have been fabricated. It is impossible that there was a correct process,” Ortega said.
Despite repeated requests for an explanation, the Vice President had not provided a clear answer.
When asked about the questionable names during an interview in The Hague, VP Duterte claimed she could not verify the documents due to doubts about the chain of evidence.
Ortega dismissed this as another attempt to evade accountability.
He said the increasing number of bizarre names indicated a seemingly deliberate scheme to fabricate recipients and misuse public funds.
The public deserves clear answers, and not evasion, he added.