Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Jil Bongalon (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook)

Time to tap experts in solving the "Mary Grace Piattos" mystery.

The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability has approved a motion to enlist government agencies in verifying the identities of individuals listed as recipients of multi-million-peso confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) disbursed by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) under Vice President Sara Duterte.

Foremost among these signatories is a person named Mary Grace Piattos, which on the surface appears to be a mash-up of the names of a restaurant and a potato chips brand.

Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Jil Bongalon introduced the motion during the committee's hearing Wednesday, Nov. 20, wherein he officially sought the assistance of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the House probe.

Committee chairman, Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua approved the motion after hearing no objections from the other solons.

Earlier in the hearing, Bongalon quizzed lawyer Gloria Camora of the Commission on Audit (COA) regarding irregularities in acknowledgment receipts (ARs) submitted by the OVP to justify its spending of CIFs.

“I would like to move that this dubious, spurious, and highly irregular [ARs] be referred to the [PSA] to verify the names enumerated therein if these persons really exist,” Bongalon said.

Bongalon also called for handwriting and signature examinations by the NBI and PNP to determine the authenticity of the ARs.

“I would like to move also that the [ARs] be referred to the [NBI] and the [PNP] for them to assist us in conducting a handwriting or signature examination to verify whether the recipients of these confidential funds are real or not, with Ms. Mary Grace Piattos as the first priority,” he added.

Bongalon questioned ARs totaling ₱26.32 million for bearing dates outside the covered period. For him, this raised concerns over their legitimacy. 

These receipts were used by the OVP to justify ₱500 million in CIFs disbursed in four installments of ₱125 million, beginning in late 2022 and continuing through the first three quarters of 2023.

The COA previously flagged or disallowed ₱73.28 million of the initial ₱125 million, as it cited improper spending of the funds by the OVP within just 11 days in December 2022. 

The remaining ₱375 million, spent in 2023, is under scrutiny after audit observation memorandums (AOMs) revealed multiple irregularities.

Bongalon noted that while some of the ARs were included in previous disallowances, an additional ₱17.6 million remains unaccounted for and could be subject to further COA disallowance.

So eager were the solon-members of the good government panel to verify Mary Grace Piattos' identity that they even raised a P1-million reward for people who can confirm her existence. 

But the same congressmen already have strong suspicions that the name is actually fictitious.