Madriaga: Sara Duterte's office disbursed P125M in 24 hours, not 11 days

Ramil Madriaga, who identified himself as a former aide of Vice President Sara Duterte, claimed that he delivered P125 million of her confidential funds to three locations in 24 hours upon her instruction.

Madriaga made the allegation during the House justice panel impeachment hearing against the Vice President in a supplemental affidavit submitted and narrated before the lawmakers.

“In the morning of December 20, 2022, Sara called me and she said, 'Sir Ram, please coordinate with Colonel Nolasco. Meron tayong deliver sa San Pablo, Laguna, sa Nightstrip [restaurant in Quezon City], at sa Ombudsman. Bawi tayo sa kanila.' Later, I received a text message from her indicating the places of delivery, which include San Pablo, Laguna, Nightstrip, and Office of the Ombudsman and the corresponding contact numbers,” relayed Madriaga.

“Later that morning, Colonel Nolasco sent me a text message directing me to go to the DepEd Central Office in Pasig City beside Ultra at around 1:30 p.m for a 'transport.' Transport is short-hand for delivery or transportation of large sums of money between Colonel Nolasco and me, upon the instructions of Sara,” Madriaga added.

Nolasco is Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Nolasco of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group.

Madriaga said they reached the DepEd compound in Pasig around past 3:00 or 4:00 p.m using two government vehicles with red plates and that they were met by Nolasco and DepEd Special Disbursement Officer (SDO) Gina Acosta.

Subsequently, four large dark bags were unloaded from vehicles: three large dark bags and one lighter-colored and relatively smaller bag.

Madriaga, quoting Nolasco, said each bag contained around P30 million to P35 million.

“Two large dark bags were placed in the Toyota Grandia, [while] one large dark bag and one lighter-colored bag were placed in my blue FJ Cruiser. The bags loaded to the Toyota Grandia were to be delivered separately to San Pablo, Laguna and Nommu Basho, Tomas Morato, Quezon City on the same day,” Madriaga said.

“The remaining bags initially loaded to my Blue FJ Cruiser were immediately transferred to the Red Mazda Sedan prior to our departure from the DepEd compound, and were to be delivered to the OMB parking lot the following day. Previously and upon direct instructions of PRRD or Sara, I have also delivered money to Ombudsman Samuel Martires or Attorney Ryan which I usually placed inside an open trunk of a designated car,” he said.

PRRD stands for former President Rodrigo Duterte, while Madriaga identified Ryan as Assistant Special Prosecutor Ryan Quilala of the Office of the Ombudsman.

During December 20, 2022, Madriaga said the first delivery was diverted to Cabuyao, Laguna, while the second delivery was made in Nommu Basho, a comedy bar in Tomas Morato, Quezon City frequented by Ryan and another San Sebastian College Law graduate like the Vice President, Reynold Munsayac. 

"When we arrived [at the Ombudsman], the guard gave a signal directing us to park in a specific area in the Ombudsman parking lot. We proceeded to the specific area and parked the Red Mazda Sedan where the remaining two bags of money were placed,” Madriaga said.

Madriaga said that they left the keys on top of the left front wheel which is “a usual practice when delivering large amounts of money.”

“After completing the last delivery, we left the OMB compound aboard my Blue Toyota FJ Cruiser. A few years later, I read from several media reports that the P125 million OVP confidential funds in 2022 were reportedly utilized in just 11 days. This is wrong because I personally disposed the money in less than 24 hours,” he added.

At this point, Madriaga became emotional, prompting the House justice panel chairperson Gerville Luistro of Batangas to suspend the proceedings. 

When asked how he was feeling and if he wanted to be seen by the House's resident doctor, Madriaga said he was okay and just feeling down.

"Malungkot lang po," Madriaga said.

(I am just sad.)

The Vice President has refuted having a personal relationship with Madriaga, alleging that he is working to undermine her possible plans to run for president. She added that Madriaga has offered no proof nor documents to support his “bare allegations.” 

The public was first made aware that the Office of the Vice President Duterte spent P125 million of its confidential funds in 11 days within December 2022 in September 2023, during ongoing plenary deliberations on the proposed 2024 budget of the Commission on Audit.

One of the impeachment allegations against the Vice President is her alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds, including the P125 million in confidential funds that the Office of the Vice President was allocated in 2022. 

COA issued a notice of disallowance on P73 million out of the P125 million.

Martires responds

Former Ombudsman Martires denied Madriaga's allegations.

"If the public’s perception that I am close to former President Rodrigo Duterte is true, then why would the former President send me money through a nonentity when FPRRD can easily summon me so he can give me money?" he said in a statement.

"Why will also the Vice President send me money thru an insignificant person when she doesn’t know me personally? What business does the Vice President have with me to be sent an amount of money Madriaga’s statement is inconsistent with his previous sworn statement made in 2025," Martires added.

Ahead of Madriaga’s testimony, the camp of the Vice President called him "the weakest link" and said his allegations were lies.

The Vice President has also vehemently denied knowing Madriaga, saying he was never his aide.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Madriaga disputed this by showing photos and videos of him with the Vice President.

“Hindi po totoo yun, Madam Chair,” he said when asked of the statement of the Vice President that she does not know Madriaga at all.

(That is not true.)

“Marami pong makakapagpapatunay na mga opisyal sa gobyerno at mga kasama namin sa ISIP na mayroon kami mga naging pagpupulong. Bukod pa po dito, mga meeting po sa lalo na noong eleksyon na halos kasama ko siya 24 hours. Mga meeting po sa, lalo na nung eleksyon, na halos kasama ko siya 24 hours, minsan overnight pa sa isang resort. Kasama ko po din ang mga PSG. Kaya kilalang kilala po niya ako at kilalang kilala ko rin po siya,” Madriaga added.

ISIP, he said, is a fund raising group which stands for Inday Sara Is My President.

(A lot of people we have been with can attest, including those who are with us in ISIP, that we have been together in meetings. Aside from this, ahead of the 2022 elections, we also had meetings, and there were days when I was with her for 24 hours. There’s one instance of us staying overnight in a resort. I was also with the Presidential Security Group. That is why I can say she knows me well and I know her well, too.)

Magnetic lifters

In the same supplemental affidavit, Madriaga alleged that he provided assistance to Vice President’s husband, lawyer Manases "Mans" Carpio, concerning a shipment that has to go through Bureau of Customs.

Madriaga said the order to assist Carpio came from the Vice President’s father, then President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Thereafter, Atty. Mans called me. We later decided to meet in front of a coffee shop in Burgos Circle in Bonifacio Global City ('BGC'), Taguig City. During our conversation, he asked me to assist in facilitating the release of what he called a construction equipment which was flagged and confiscated by the BOC,” Madriaga said.

Madriaga said Carpio gave him a contact person to iron out the concerned shipment with, and that he went on to meet her, a lawyer, to discuss the release of the construction equipment.

Madriaga said he later learned learned that the construction equipment were actually magnetic lifters, and that they were confiscated for containing a large amount of shabu.

“The female lawyer informed me that it was difficult to release the same because it was a ‘hot item.’ I reported this to Atty. Mans and we met again in the same spot in BGC, Taguig City. This was the last time we met regarding this issue,” he said.

“Later, I learned that the contents of the magnetic lifters, at least 500 kilograms of shabu worth P4.3 billion, were mysteriously missing,” he added.

Dummy for money transfers

Madriaga also said he acted as dummy of former President Duterte for multimillion-peso bank deposits.

“Despite only earning P100,000 to P150,000 from my services to PRRD (former President Duterte), millions of pesos went through bank accounts opened for me by close associates of PRRD. I admit that during PRRD’s term as President, I served as a dummy for the transfer of large amounts of money,” he added.

Madriaga said the accounts in multiple banks in Makati, Pasig, and Pampanga were used for transactions described to him as “intelligence operations” and laundering,

He added that he was not the one who went to the banks to open these accounts.

“I have never personally opened these accounts or appeared before the said banks to process any application in relation thereto. These were opened by people close to former President Duterte who informed me that money will be transferred to these accounts for ‘intelligence operations’ and for laundering,” he said.

“I was later instructed to sign entire checkbooks where the amounts and payees are left blank. I agreed to do this because, at the time, I had complete trust in PRRD and his close associates,” Madriaga added.

He detailed multiple large cash movements, including three separate withdrawals of P100 million each from a bank inside a mall in Lubao, Pampanga, which he said were delivered to Malacañang.

He cited the attachments to his affidavit which include two Landbank manager’s checks issued under his name totaling P89 million, which he said were intended for delivery to a safehouse in Eastwood, Quezon City. —VAL/BM, GMA News