IT’S all coming out now.
The House of Representatives has unearthed yet another treasure trove of evidence showing that the Office of the Vice President has diverted confidential funds—apparently into private pockets?—by using various fictitious names in supposedly official receipts.
Imagine the scene at the OVP where the staff, presumably including even the highest officials, take turns in coming up with the most ludicrous names they could think of, all the while guffawing loudly and exchanging high fives every time they came up with the most original ones.
According to House Deputy Majority Leader and La Union Rep. Paolo C. Ortega V, in sifting the receipts submitted by the OVP, they found such questionable names as ‘Jay Kamote,’ ‘Miggy Mango’ and five ‘Dodongs’: Dodong Alcala, Dodong Bina, Dodong Bunal, Dodong Darong, and Dodong S. Barok.
Earlier, Ortega bared names derived from chip brands and cellphones: ‘Mary Grace Piattos,’ ‘Pia Piatos-Lim,’ ‘Renan Piatos’ and ‘Xiaome Ocho,’ among others.
The lawmaker said all these names have no birth, marriage, or death records at the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Citing the PSA, Ortega said 670 of the 1,992 names had a “most likely match” 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).
“What 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),” he added.
Recall that 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’s confidential funds.
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 had no record with the PSA.
What do we make of all this? Did the OVP think that the officials and staff of the Commission on Audit (COA) would be so dense or stupid that they would simply believe what is being foisted on them as official receipts signed with wildly outrageous names?
Or perhaps the OVP thought they could pull a fast one on state auditors simply because confidential funds should not be subject to government audit since they are by their very nature secret funds.
By now, the OVP should be preparing to answer the issues raised by Congress on their alleged misuse of confidential and intelligence funds before the Senate impeachment court starts its hearings in July.