Sara mum on secret fund recipients

Vice President Sara Duterte refused to give the House of Representatives any explanation regarding the identities of "Mary Grace Piattos," "Chippy McDonalds" and other names that appeared in the acknowledgment receipts (ARs) as supposed recipients of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd)'s confidential funds in 2022 and 2023.

- By ELIZABETH MARCELO

At a press conference after hosting a thanksgiving lunch with the media last Wednesday, Duterte said she would not explain the matter as it would "compromise" the intelligence operations of OVP and DepEd as well as other government offices that carry out intelligence work.

"No, I will not explain. I will not give an explanation because it will entail that I explain intelligence operations, which will compromise offices who do intelligence operations. It will really compromise how they work. So, no. No explanation will be given to the House of Representatives," Duterte said.

The name Mary Grace Piattos was listed as among the recipients of confidential funds from the OVP and DepEd, based on the acknowledgement receipts submitted to the Commission on Audit (COA).

However, during the hearing last week, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that based on its system verification, it has "no records of birth certificate, marriage and death" under the name of Mary Grace Piattos.

Over the weekend, the PSA also informed the House panel that 60 percent or 405 out of 677 names that appeared in the ARs as recipients of the OVP and DepEd's confidential funds likewise have no record in its database, as these names yielded no birth, marriage, or death certificates in the Civil Registry System.