VP Sara no comment on ‘Piattos’ mess: I haven’t seen the receipt

(FILE) OCTOBER 17, 2024
Vice President Sara Z. Duterte during her press conference at the Office of the Vice President, Robinsons Cybergate Plaza, Mandaluyong City.
INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday refused to comment on the existence of “Mary Grace Piattos,” an alleged recipient of part of the confidential funds her office spent in just 11 days in December 2022, as she has not seen the acknowledgment receipts the House was basing it from.

Duterte made the pronouncement in connection to the P1 million cash reward placed for anyone who could present “Mary Grace Piattos.”

According to Duterte, the documents the House were citing did not go through her, adding that it was instead directly submitted to the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) special disbursement officer (SDO) Gina Acosta and then to the Inspection and Control of Fund Audit Unit (ICFAU) of the Commission on Audit (COA).

“I have no comment on that, because I have not seen the acknowledgment receipt they are talking about because basically all documents do not go through me and it goes straight to the SDO and submits it to the ICFAU of the CO ,” said Duterte in a mix of Filipino and English during a press conference.

“So, I will not comment especially that we do not know how the copies of the acknowledgment receipt were processed, or our submissions to the COA to the House of Representatives and who is handling the documents,” she added in a mix of Filipino and English.

READ: Is ‘Piattos’ for real? House questions OVP fund recipient

It was during a House Good Government and Public Accountability Committee probe when Piattos’ identity was questioned by lawmakers.

Piattos’ acknowledgment receipt was among the 787 submitted by the OVP to the COA that had no names printed or only had signatures, as well as 302 more that had unreadable or dubiously sounding names.

Other receipts had similar sounding names—deriving from popular brands—such as  “Nova,” “Oishi” and “Tempura.”

The COA then confirmed that the deficient receipts were intended to justify a broad range of expenses, including supplies, equipment, and food aid, as well as the “purchase of information” and “rewards, including medicine.”

Lawmakers then later agreed to chip in for the cash reward to identify Piattos.