Vice President Sara Duterte said on Wednesday, Nov. 20, that she had not seen the receipts signed by a certain “Mary Grace Piattos” relating to her office’s confidential funds use and is now the subject of a congressional inquiry and social media memes.
Vice President Sara Duterte speaks to the media at the Office of the Vice President-Caraga Satellite Office in Butuan City on Nov. 20, 2024. (OVP screenshot)
In a press conference in Butuan City, the official refused to comment on the P1-million bounty being offered by the House Blue Ribbon Committee and Quad-Committee to anyone who can provide information about Piattos, who was a signatory to acknowledgement receipts for the OVP’s confidential funds expenses.
“I have no comment on that because I have not seen the acknowledgement receipt na kanilang sinasabi (that they are talking about),” she said.
Duterte explained that all documents don’t go through her office and are instead submitted to the Commission on Audit (COA), which in turn audits the confidential funds.
“So, hindi ako maka-comment lalong lalo na hindi namin alam kung paano pinoroseso ang pagbigay ng copies ng ARs or ng submissions namin sa COA to the House of Representatives and sino ang nagha-handle noong mga documents (I cannot comment because we don’t know how the submission of the ARs and our submission to the COA to the House of Representatives is being process and who hands those documents),” she added.
Lawmakers have flagged the name Mary Grace Piattos as suspicious, believing it could be based on the combination of a local cafe name and that of a local brand of potato chips.
This happened as the House Good Government and Public Accountability Committee continue its investigation into the alleged misuse of the P500 million confidential funds by the OVP and the P112.5 million spent by the Department of Education (DepEd) when it was under the Vice President.
Lawmakers raised questions and concerns about the acknowledgement receipts submitted by the state auditors, noting typographical errors, incorrect dates, missing dates, and similarities in the handwriting and ink used in the documents.
While Duterte was again invited to attend the Nov. 20 hearing, she skipped it anew and insisted that there were no anomalies in the OVP’s spending.
Meanwhile, the Vice President was asked to comment about whether she’s hiding the OVP’s special disbursing officer, Gina Acosta, in Caraga.
Acosta was one of the four OVP executives cited in contempt by the House panel for repeatedly refusing to attend the inquiry.
“Well, alam naman ng lahat na (everyone knows that) its the 89th anniversary of the Office of the Vice President. And hindi lang Caraga ang merong activities sa (it’s not just Caraga that has activities) in relation to the anniversary,” Duterte said, adding that they’ll be in Bukidnon, Lanao del Sur, Isabela City, Cebu, Leyte, and Ifugao next.
“All these were planned and prepared last year when we proposed our budget in relation to our thanksgiving activities in relation to our anniversary,” she stated.