Vice President Sara Duterte (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

Another mysterious, suspicious name has popped up in the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability's ongoing inquiry on the alleged misuse of confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) under Vice President Sara Duterte.

On Wednesday, Nov. 20, the Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua-chaired panel continued its investigation into the questionable acknowledgment receipts (ARs) submitted to justify ₱612.5 million in CIFs managed by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), specifically in 2022 and 2023.

During the hearing, Assistant Majority Leader Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong brought up the peculiar name “Kokoy Villamin”, which appeared in multiple ARs but with varying handwriting and signatures.

He described these as clear red flags and suggested potential falsification in the liquidation documents submitted to the Commission on Audit (COA).

This developed amid the House members' search for another CIF receipt signatory named "Mary Grace Piattos", whom they believed was fictitious. In the Philippines, "Mary Grace" is the name of a restaurant, while "Piattos" is a brand of potato chips.

There's a chance that Kokoy Villamin could be just as real---or fake--as Mary Grace Piattos.

"The point I’m trying to drive at, Mr. Chair, is that based on the documents and the [ARs], we do not have any other ways to really affirm whether these persons and individuals who have received the confidential funds were truly alive and truly person[s],” Adiong said.

(Screenshot from Facebook livestream)

He presented a receipt dated Sept. 17, 2023, where Kokoy Villamin appeared as the recipient of funds from the OVP. A second receipt from DepEd--which Vice President Duterte led for two years as secretary--bore the same name but had a different signature.

“Medyo hindi ho kapanipaniwala. Ako, ordinary po ako na tao, I’m not an auditor, but as you can see it, pareho po ‘yung pangalan nila, Kokoy Villamin (It's somewhat unbelievable. Me, I'm an ordinary person, but as you can see it, they indicate the same name, Kokoy Villamin).

[The] acknowledgment receipt from the [OVP] and at the same time, from the DepEd, the same person, Kokoy Villamin from Ozamiz,” Adiong pointed out. 

He continued, “Is it just a coincidence that the same two offices, headed by the same person, submitted the same [ARs] and encountered two persons with the same name? How unlikely would that be? Two persons with the same name bearing the same spelling, same last name, and the same first name.”

COA Intelligence and Confidential Funds Auditor Gloria Camora confirmed during the hearing that such scenario was “highly unlikely.” She also noted that the handwriting and signatures on the ARs were inconsistent.

“I think it’s very obvious, Mr. Chair, that the signatures on the [AR] submitted by the [OVP] are quite different from the [AR] received by the [DepEd]. Parehong pangalan pero mukhang magkaiba,” Adiong remarked.

Adiong disclosed that nearly 4,500 ARs were submitted to COA to justify the CIFs--2,670 from the OVP and 1,820 from DepEd. 

He expressed concern over the lack of supporting evidence accompanying these ARs, which were the sole documents used to account for the disbursed funds.

The congressmen earlier offered a P1-million reward for anyone who could verify the existence of Mary Grace Piattos.

'Ma’am, talagang tinatago niyo'

In the same hearing, Abang-Lingkod Party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen "Caraps" Paduano questioned Reosalynne Sanchez, the head of the OVP’s administrative and finance services department, over the "detail-less" travel authorities issued to certain officials of the agency.

The trips alluded in these travel authorities were used as excuse by the involved OVP officials---including special disbursing officer (SDO) Gina Acosta--to skip Wednesday’s good government panel hearing. 

Paduano noted that the travel permission documents bore no important details required by law such as the date, time and place.

"In your own experience and based on the practices in your office. Is it regular or irregular, without dates, without the specific place?" Paduano asked Sanchez.

"Mr. Chair, it’s not common, this is the first time," the latter answered. 

"So that's irregular," Paduano pressed the resource person, to which Sanchez replied, "That is not usual, Mr. Chair."

Paduano recalled that Acosta previously submitted a travel authority for a trip to Bacolod City, which clearly specified the time and location. However, the veteran solon pointed out discrepancies in the latest travel orders provided by the OVP, which lacked such specifics.

"Alam mo ba ang problema niyo? Kasi ngayon nilalabas niyo na walang specific area. Ma’am, talagang tinatago niyo,” added the firebrand Paduano.

(You know what your problem is? Because now you release travel authorities without specific area. Ma’am, you're really hiding it.)

He subsequently advised Sanchez to only give truthful statements to the mega-panel, or else face its wrath.

“Attorney, I just cited our internal rules. I hope you will answer truthfully so that this committee will not be forced to cite you in contempt, gano’n lang po (that's how it is),” Paduano said.