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From Piattos to Pagong, Pusa: More absurd-sounding confidential fund recipients floated in VP Sara trial
Philippines
National
From Piattos to Pagong, Pusa: More absurd-sounding confidential fund recipients floated in VP Sara trial
From Piattos to Pagong, Pusa: More absurd-sounding confidential fund recipients floated in VP Sara trial
Published Aug 24, 2026 02:27 pm
At A Glance
- Hostile witness Gina Acosta testified that acknowledgment receipts for OVP confidential funds bore questionable names like Antonio Pagong, Timon Andrew Pusa, Don Piang, Shane Ngitngit, and Xuniso P. Belat, with payments ranging from ₱100,000 to ₱500,000.
- Acosta repeatedly admitted she had no personal knowledge of the funds being handed to these individuals, and said she was not on the ground and relied on Col. Raymund Dante Lachica's implementation and documents.
- Prosecutors argued Lachica lacked authority to receive and disburse the confidential funds since he was not an organic OVP employee or designated SDO.
Hostile witness Gina Acosta (Senate PRIB)
The continuation of direct examination on hostile witness Gina Acosta led to mention of more absurd, if not fake-sounding names from acknowledgment receipts (ARs) for the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) confidential funds.
This, as private prosecutor Amando Virgil Ligutan grilled Acosta on whether or not the former OVP special disbursing officer (SDO) could personally verify that the purported recipients actually received the money.
Among those named in ARs presented Monday, Aug. 24 during Vice President Sara Duterte’s Senate impeachment trial were Antonio Pagong, Timon Andrew Pusa, Don Piang, Shane Ngitngit and Xuniso P. Belat.
The receipts reflected payments ranging from P100,000 to P250,000 for expenses such as the purchase of information and rental of transport vehicles.
These names continued the tradition of the infamous Mary Grace Piattos, which many members from the House of Representatives--effectively the prosecutors in the case--believed was fictitious.
Ligutan first confronted Acosta with an AR bearing the name Antonio Pagong. The document indicated that Pagong received P100,000 for the purchase of information.
Asked whether she personally saw Col. Raymund Dante Lachica--Duterte’s security chief--give the money to Pagong, Acosta answered in the negative.
“Hindi ko siya nakita, Your Honor, kasi wala po ako doon sa ground. Siya po ang nag-implement, Your Honor,” Acosta, who remains an OVP employee, testified.
(I did not see him, Your Honor, because I was not on the ground. He was the one who implemented it.)
Another individual, Timon Andrew Pusa, reportedly received P100,000 for the rental of a transport vehicle; while Don Piang was listed to have received P500,000 for transport rental.
An AR under Shane Ngitngit’s name reflected P150,000, while another bearing the name Xuniso P. Belat indicated a P100,000 confidential fund payment.
Acosta repeatedly said she did not witness Lachica make the payments.
“Hindi ko nakita, Your Honor, kasi wala po ako doon sa ground,” Acosta said when asked about the payment bearing Ngitngit’s name.
(I did not see, Your Honor, because I was not on the ground.)
Monday’s testimony did not establish whether Pagong, Pusa, Piang, Ngitngit and Belat are real or fictitious individuals. It established, however, that Acosta, the accountable SDO, had no personal knowledge that Lachica actually handed the amounts reflected in the receipts to the people named in them.
Impeachment court presiding officer Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero asked Acosta, “Wala kang personal knowledge na binigay nga doon sa mga tao yung pera o ginastos talaga para sa supplies?”
(You have no personal knowledge that the money was actually given to the people or truly spent for supplies?)
“Wala po (I don't),” the witness replied.
Acosta said she instead relied on Lachica, whom Duterte had designated to implement the OVP’s confidential activities, and on the documents he provided to account for the expenditures.
The prosecution’s position was that Lachica had no authority to receive and disburse the confidential funds since he was not an organic employee. Worse, he was not the OVP's designated SDO.