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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider VP Sara to disprove 'fictitious' secret fund recipients in impeachment trial

VP Sara to disprove 'fictitious' secret fund recipients in impeachment trial

Published Jul 10, 2025 10:35 am
Vice President Sara Duterte is ready to falsify allegations that she used fictitious beneficiaries for her offices’ confidential funds if the impeachment trial in the Senate pushes through.

Vice President Sara Duterte (MB File Photo)
Vice President Sara Duterte (MB File Photo)
Duterte said this during a chance interview with supporters outside the Scheveningen Prison in The Hague, Netherlands on Wednesday, July 9.

“It can be very well addressed during trial. So, our lawyers are preparing for the trial and collecting pieces of evidence and gathering affidavits from witnesses that they will present during trial,” she explained.

The Vice President warned the public, however, of believing the House of Representatives.

“I think it is wrong for everyone to pick up as truth or as a fact all the pronouncements of the members of the House of Representatives, particularly with the fictitious names,” Duterte said.

“Because there are rules in intelligence operations and you already heard some of the people who work in intelligence say that aliases are often used in intelligence operations,” she added.

The official was impeached by the House of Representatives on Feb. 5, and a trial is currently pending in the Senate.

The impeachment complaints were born from months-long congressional probes, which she repeatedly skipped, into the OVP’s and Department of Education’s (DepEd) use of hundreds of millions worth of confidential funds in 2023.

Allegations of misuse were fueled by seemingly fabricated documents signed by questionable personalities, such as a “Mary Grace Piattos,” “Fernando Tempura,” “Reymunda Jane Nova,” and “Carlos Miguel Oishi”—purportedly named after popular Filipino snack brand and a local restaurant.

But Duterte insisted on Wednesday that the names can be properly addressed during the trial, adding that their camp has two intelligence experts who will stand as their resource persons.

“That can be discussed during the trial, ma’am. I do not want to elaborate on intelligence operations,” she told a supporter.

“So, let us wait for the trial. And as I said yesterday, if there is no trial, then I will answer it publicly. I just want to wait what will happen to the articles of the impeachment,” she added.

Duterte arrived in The Hague on July 5 with her 12-year-old son, who met his grandfather for the first time since being detained on March 12.

While former president Rodrigo Duterte and his grandson talked about sports, education, among others, the elder Duterte also discussed the circumstances of his detention in The Hague.

Citing her father, the Vice President said that everything the former president has done was for the country.

“Not all people in detention are bad,” she quoted her father as having said to her son.

“I am not here because I am a kidnapper, robber, holdupper, or thief. I am here because I did things for my country and I do not regret going after criminals and people dealing with illegal drugs.”

The Vice President will be in The Hague until July 23, and will attend a “Free Duterte Rally” on July 27.

She will fly back to the Philippines on July 28, the day of President Marcos’ fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), which she will not attend.

Related Tags

VP Sara Duterte confidential funds impeachment trial House of Representatives
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