MANILA, Philippines — Following the controversy over “Mary Grace Piattos,” one other equally named recipient, “Renan Piatos,” emerged in discussions on the impeachment case in opposition to Vice President Sara Duterte.
At Monday’s Senate impeachment trial, prosecution lawyer Lorna Kapunan offered an acknowledgment report overlaying OVP confidential fund bills, purportedly signed by Renan Piatos—whose surname is spelled with a single “T”—for a P110,000 cost for data.
Kapunan then requested the prosecution’s witness, Fee on Audit (COA) auditor Roderick Wamil, as to what his observations have been concerning the AR signed by Piatos.
READ: VP Sara Camp denies plans to current ‘Mary Grace Piattos’ in courtroom
Wamil stated it can’t be allowed as a result of it was acquired on December 27, 2023, which is means past the validity of the 2022 fourth quarter CF allotted to OVP.
“I’ll present you one other doc, marked for the prosecution, P-1-8-619, one other Piatos, named Renan Piatos. Ang quantity is P110,000 and the date is 12-27-2023 […] What statement are you able to make or have you ever made as regards this acknowledgement receipt?” Kapunan requested.
READ: Sara Duterte: Confidential fund names have been intelligence ‘aliases’
“Primarily based on this acknowledgement receipt, binayad po siya noong December 27, 2023, which one yr po after no’ng supposedly protection ng kanilang money advance for confidential fund,” Wamil stated.
(Primarily based on this acknowledgement receipt, it was paid on December 27, 2023, which is one yr after the supposed protection of their money advance for confidential funds.)
Kapunan requested what must be the proper date for the discharge of the CF payouts, to which Wamil stated that he can not verify the true date of the discharge of funds.
Nevertheless, upon clarification from Presiding Officer and Senator-judge Francis Escudero, Wamil famous that the payouts ought to have been made between December 21, 2022 to December 31, 2022.
“I can not decide the proper date primarily based on this doc pero dapat po kasi eh pasok siya sa protection ng kanilang money advance primarily based on the paperwork submitted to ICFAO (Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Workplace),” Wamil stated.
(I can not decide the proper date primarily based on this doc however this could have been made throughout the protection of their money advance primarily based on the paperwork submitted to ICFAO (Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Workplace).)
“With the permission of counsel, December 21 to December 31, 2022 ‘yong coated interval ng disbursement nitong confidential funds, Mr. Wamil, proper?” Escudero requested.
“So whenever you say hindi pasok do’n sa interval na ‘yon, no’ng December 21 to December 31, 2022. Dahil 2023 na nakalagay na taon supposedly, tama?”
(With the permission of counsel, December 21 to December 31, 2022 is the coated interval of disbursement of those confidential funds, Mr. Wamil, proper? So whenever you say it didn’t fall inside that interval, that’s from December 21 to December 31, 2022, as a result of it was supposedly launched in 2023, proper?)
“Sure po your Honor,” Wamil stated.
Renan Piatos is likely one of the three people with comparable sounding names within the voluminous checklist of ARs underneath the OVP, for its confidential expenditures.
Renan’s signature on the AR was first revealed in March 2025, when Home of Representatives lawmakers analyzed the paperwork from COA-ICFAO.
In a press release final March 26, 2025, Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V — who was then deputy majority chief of the nineteenth Congress — stated that obvious “family members” of Mary Grace Piattos have been among the many different recipients of CFs from Duterte’s workplaces.
The opposite identify is a sure Pia Piatos-Lim, which makes use of the identical surname spelling as Renan Piatos.
Throughout the eleventh day of Duterte’s trial, the AR signed by Mary Grace Piattos’ was additionally introduced up. Kapunan additionally requested Wamil in regards to the AR, to which the COA personnel stated that the transaction violated the Joint Round No. 2015-01 that mandates using confidential and intelligence funds.
Based on Wamil, the transaction involving Mary Grace Piattos — P70,000 value of medicines as reward — can’t be allowed since OVP didn’t connect any doc that will show that data gathering was profitable.
“Since it’s cost of rewards, it isn’t sufficient to indicate acknowledgement receipts, they should adjust to the provisions of the Joint Round as to the cost of rewards,” Wamil stated.
“So this Mary Grace Piattos acknowledgement receipt, you might be saying that it’s a violation of the Joint Round, and why?” Kapunan requested.
“As a result of it isn’t correctly supported by paperwork evidencing success po, which is required underneath 4.8.5 of the Joint Round 2015-01,” Wamil replied.
After Kapunan’s presentation of the ARs involving Mary Grace Piattos and Renan Piatos, the lawyer confirmed extra paperwork — and poked enjoyable at them.
Kapunan confirmed ARs for a sure Andy Lim and Alejandro Pikit — which she jokingly stated was the rationale why she discovered it troublesome to learn Lim’s identify as a result of it seems like “ang dilim” — Filipino for ‘it’s darkish.’
And the rationale why it’s darkish, she stated, is as a result of possibly somebody’s eyes are closed — or “pikit.”
Protection panel member Michael Poa objected to Kapunan’s line of questioning, saying that the latter supposedly places extra “shade” to the names said within the ARs. However Kapunan countered, saying that she was merely stating the Filipino which means of the names talked about.
“Your Honor I’m simply studying, it says right here, it says Andy Lim,” Kapunan stated.
“It’s like Patty Ting, it’s the best way it’s spelled, and the subsequent one, possibly you’ll object once more, it’s Alejandro A. Pikit. I used to be gonna say possibly the rationale why it’s darkish is as a result of somebody’s eyes are closed.”
“Precisely our level, your Honor,” Poa famous.
Ultimately, Escudero requested Kapunan to maneuver ahead “accordingly.”
Wamil is the third witness offered by the prosecution for Article I of the Articles of Impeachment, which offers with alleged CF misuse in Duterte’s workplaces.
The CF concern is an integral a part of the allegations in opposition to Duterte, as an enormous quantity of the bills made by means of these secret funds have been disallowed by the Fee on Audit — P375 million CF expenditures made by the OVP in 2023, and one other P73 million CF for 2022.
Previous to this testimony, Wamil stated that the rationale why solely the OVP and Division of Training (DepEd) underneath Duterte have been audited for CF bills was as a result of previous iterations of those workplaces didn’t have such appropriations.
Wamil — who from 2014 to 2024 was a part of COA-ICFAO — stated that he didn’t do checks on former Vice Presidents Jejomar Binay and Leni Robredo as a result of they’d no CF appropriations.
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