ANOTHER set of names has been unearthed in relation to the confidential files of the Office of the Vice President.
“Beverly Claire Pampano”, “Mico Harina”, “Sala Casim”, “Ralph Josh Bacon” and “Patty Ting” have been found submitted to the Commission on Audit as recipients of confidential files.
Like their predecessors, these names, which sound as though they were taken from someone’s list of grocery items, have been shown to have no official birth, death, or marriage records with the Philippines Statistics Authority.
“Mary Grace Piattos” was the first to be revealed, and then came “Jay Kamote”, “Miggy Mango”, and five who went by “Dodong’. Meanwhile, the investigation into confidential funds at the Department of Education when the Vice President was concurrently its secretary revealed names such as “Amoy Liu”, “Fernan Amuy”, and “Joug de Asim”.
The OVP listed 1,992 supposed recipients of confidential funds while the DepEd listed 677 beneficiaries. Of these numbers, 1,322 and 405 for each office did not have birth records.
The Vice President, interviewed in The Hague while she was visiting her jailed father, questioned the findings and said she was not sure whether these names were even the ones her office submitted to the COA in the first place. The statement implies that the source of the funny names could not have been her office in the first place.
But the documents were submitted by her office, all right.
Others argue that security reasons justify the use of aliases. What security purposes could those funds serve, we wonder. Of the numerous occasions provided the agencies to answer the questions, the VP and her staff simply have gone in circles, hiding under the cloak of, well, confidentiality.
We imagine the generation of these names could have been an enjoyable exercise for those involved in them, pulling out names out of thin air and purposely obfuscating whoever it is daring to look into their secret operations. Perhaps they were doing this before lunch, when thoughts naturally stray into food.
But the matter is never funny. This is grave and serious.
It betrays the low regard of some individuals for the credulity of the rest of us, not thinking their handiwork would actually be put under scrutiny.
It shows the failure to comprehend that such funds are from taxpayers’ money and should be used with utmost prudence, and only for purposes under specific mandates.
It shows haughtiness and arrogance in which they respond to those who hold them accountable for the money placed in their care.
It reveals the absurdity and two-facedness of promising to deliver public service to the best of their abilities while doing the opposite,
The names make light of the situation, but when reckoning comes, nobody — especially Vice President Sara Duterte — will be laughing.