Check VP’s projects when she was mayor – Palace

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang yesterday called for a probe into the projects of Vice President Sara Duterte when she was mayor of Davao City following the release of a list of alleged recipients of her office’s confidential funds with no personal records.

Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said Duterte revealed at a Senate hearing that her office’s confidential funds had been spent for projects like free rides, free meals and an entrepreneurship program even if they were not supposed to be bankrolled by the funding.

“If you can see, more similar receipts have been discovered, have been examined and I think at this point in time, we should also look back, how did (Vice President) Sara spent her huge confidential funds at the time that she was then a mayor? She received at least P460 million for four years during her time, so how did she spend that?” Castro told ABS-CBN News.

“So maybe she is into these kinds of transactions. Maybe she did not imagine that it (would) come to this point that all her receipts would be put into question,” the Palace press officer added.
On Sunday, House deputy majority leader and La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V disclosed the names of supposed recipients of the Vice President’s confidential funds who he said have no birth, marriage or death records at the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The lawmaker identified the beneficiaries as “Jay Kamote,” “Miggy Mango” and five persons named “Dodong,” namely “Dodong Alcala,” “Dodong Bina,” “Dodong Bunal,” “Dodong Darong” and “Dodong S. Barok.”

Ortega said it could not be ascertained if the seven recipients of the confidential funds are real people.

He believes that the findings further strengthen the case against Duterte, who was impeached by the House of Representatives last December over her alleged failure to properly account for the confidential funds given to her office, among other issues.

Last year, lawmakers questioned what they described as unusual names in the Vice President’s disbursement records, including “Mary Grace Piattos,” “Pia Piatos-Lim,” “Renan Piatos” and “Xiaome Ocho.”

Duterte has denied misusing her confidential funds and has challenged the legality of her impeachment before the Supreme Court. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Delon Porcalla