PSA asked to verify 1,992 names linked to OVP confidential funds

House of Representatives (Photo: House of Representatives of the Philippines/Facebook)

By Filane Mikee Cervantes, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – The House of Representatives Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability has sought assistance from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to verify the civil registry records of 1,992 individuals tied to the alleged misuse of PHP500 million in confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) under Vice President Sara Duterte.

Committee Chair, Rep. Joel Chua, said the names under scrutiny were listed on acknowledgment receipts (ARs) submitted by the OVP to the Commission on Audit (COA) to account for confidential fund expenditures between late 2022 and the third quarter of 2023.

“May we request for the verification of the Civil Registry Documents (birth, marriage, and death) of the names in the attached list relative to the investigation being conducted by the committee,” Chua said in a Dec. 9 letter to National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Claire Dennis Mapa.

The letter was released to the media on Tuesday.

The request follows a PSA report highlighting discrepancies in a previous batch of 667 names linked to PHP112.5 million in confidential funds disbursed by the Department of Education (DepEd) in 2023, during Duterte’s tenure as secretary.

The report said 405 names lacked birth records, 445 had no marriage certificates, and 508 had no death certificates.

Chua said the PSA verification is crucial in determining whether the listed individuals exist, as discrepancies would support allegations that the ARs were fabricated.

“A certification that these names are not in the PSA database would bolster suspicions that they do not exist and that the ARs were fabricated to justify confidential fund expenditures by the OVP and DepEd under Vice President Duterte,” he said.

The PSA earlier confirmed that “Mary Grace Piattos,” another alleged recipient, is a fictitious identity.

The name combines a popular restaurant and a local snack brand.