Do funny names in OVP confi fund recipients mean they're fake? COA witness cannot say

Prosecution witness Xylene del Campo of the Commission on Audit (COA) said Wednesday she cannot say if recipients of P375 million in confidential funds under Vice President Sara Duterte's office who had apparent "funny" names are real persons or not.

Del Campo made the testimony during Day 15 of Duterte's impeachment trial during the cross examination of defense counsel Kristine Ferrer.

"If the name appears to be funny, does it mean it is fictitious?" Ferrer asked.

"Hindi ko po siya masasagot (I cannot answer that)," Del Campo said.

Ferrer then asked again if she means that a funny name does not make the recipient fake. However, Del Campo maintained, "Hindi po ako makakasagot sa gan'un (I cannot answer that question po)."

Acknowledgment receipts submitted by Duterte's Office of the Vice President (OVP) as liquidation documents for its 2023 confidential fund disbursement included the following recipients:

₱500,000 — Feonna Villegas
₱500,000 — Clarisse Hontiveros
₱350,000 — Honeylet Camille Sy
₱250,000 — Heart Santiago
₱200,000 — Jay Kamote
₱180,000 — Salah Casim
₱150,000 — Ralph Josh Bacon
₱150,000 — Jose Diokno Jr.
₱140,000 — Pia Piatos-Lim
₱130,000 — Beverly Claire Pampano
₱120,000 — Denise Tanya Escudero
₱100,000 — Xiaomi Ocho
₱50,000 — Miggy Mango
₱50,000 — Matthew N. Keso
₱50,000 — Kristine Applegate
₱50,000 — Anne Ongpauco
₱50,000 — Beth Revilla

For its 2022 OVP confidential fund disbursements, liquidation documents submitted by the OVP showed the following confidential fund recipients:

• ₱70,000 received by Mary Grace Piattos for payment of medicine
• ₱110,000 received by Renan Piattos dated December 27, 2023, which was not covered by the 2022 confidential fund allocation
• ₱85,000 received by Nova Santos for purchase of various goods
• ₱295,000 received by Mico Harina dated December 31, 2023, which was not covered by the 2022 confidential fund allocation
• ₱50,000 received by Andy Lim dated December 27, 2023, which was not covered by the 2022 confidential fund allocation
• ₱70,000 received by Gabriel Bisaya dated December 27, 2023, which was not covered by the 2022 confidential fund allocation
• ₱90,000 received by Alejandro Pikit dated December 21, 2023, which was not covered by the 2022 confidential fund allocation, among others.

One of the allegations in the impeachment case against Duterte is that the confidential fund went to bogus recipients since their birth and death records are not found in the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Also during Day 15 of the trial, private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan objected to the defense counsel's question about the supposed funny names of confidential fund recipients based on OVP submissions, saying it was never about the names but how the confidential fund was used.

"Your Honor, please, the question is misleading. The point of flashing these acknowledgment receipts were not the names. The names were incidental, that the names were funny or fruit salad-y or names of congressmen or senators, Your Honor, is immaterial," Kapunan said.

"They were flashed because of the manner by which the funds were used," Kapunnan added.

Senate impeachment court Presiding Officer Francis Escudero, however, allowed Ferrer to proceed with the questioning since Kapunan "also had fun with the names." — VDV, GMA News