At the impeachment trial on Monday, Assistant National Statistician Marizza Grande testified that 1,685 of the 2,669 individuals listed as recipients of confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd) in 2022 and 2023 have no records in the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) civil registry database.
Grande told the prosecution panel that names appearing in liquidation documents included people with no birth, marriage, or death records, as well as children and deceased persons.
Among the unusual names cited were Mary Grace Piattos, Arthur Baon, Matthew Keso, and Timon Pusa. Acknowledgment receipts showed some of these individuals received large sums, including P500,000 for “Danrick Otso” and P250,000 for “Matthew Keso.”
The PSA also found that 25 names belonged to children, three of whom were under three years old. Some names matched PSA marriage records, but signatures did not correspond.
Grande confirmed that the PSA submitted a certification to the House of Representatives in November 2024, stating that several names, including Mary Grace Piattos, yielded negative results in the civil registry system.
The Vice President faces charges of graft and betrayal of public trust over the alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds, 500 million for the OVP and P112.5 million for DepEd under then-Secretary Sara Duterte.
The controversy has focused on the rapid disbursement of P125 million in cash within 11 days in December 2022, withdrawn in four tranches from Landbank Shaw Boulevard. DepEd separately withdrew P112.5 million in three tranches.
Bank officials earlier testified that the transactions were unusual. ||
