'Jay Kamote,' 'Miggy Mango' among new names revealed in OVP confidential funds
A lawmaker revealed more names of supposed recipients of confidential funds from the Office of Vice President Sara Duterte, including a "Jay Kamote" and a "Miggy Mango."
House Deputy Majority Leader Francisco Paolo Ortega V shared the additional names in a statement on March 16. He also flagged five different individuals named Dodong, who were listed among the recipients: Dodong Alcala, Dodong Bina, Dodong Bunal, Dodong Darong, and Dodong S. Barok.
“Una, may chichirya at cellphone. Ngayon, may prutas at kamote na. At higit sa lahat, mukhang ‘Dodong Gang’ na ito! Hindi lang isa, hindi lang tatlo—limang Dodong ang nasa listahan,” he said in the statement, as per ABS-CBN News.
“Anong klaseng payroll ito? Imaginary? Hindi natin matukoy kung totoong tao ba ang mga tumanggap ng perang galing sa CIF,” he added.
Earlier this month, the La Union representative revealed that Pia Piatos-Lim, Renan Piatos, and Xiaome Ocho were listed as recipients.
Lawmakers first raised suspicions on the recipients of the confidential funds, especially a certain “Mary Grace Piattos,” pointing out that Mary Grace is the name of a cafe while Piattos is the name of a chips brand.
The Philippine Statistics Authority has previously said that 1,332 of the 1,992 names listed as recipients of the OVP’s P500 million confidential funds have no birth records.
Duterte has been in hot water for the alleged misuse of funds for her offices' programs and her refusal to answer questions regarding her offices' expenses, particularly the confidential funds worth P775 million for the OVP and DepEd during her budget proposal's first hearing. She was seeking a P2.037-billion budget for 2025, which was cut to P733 million. Her office has a P1.885-billion budget for 2024.
Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives in February, with 215 congresspeople endorsing the verified complaint against her.
In a prepared statement, the House leadership said that the grounds for Duterte's impeachment are a “series of grave allegations, including conspiracy to assassinate Marcos, large-scale corruption, abuse of public funds, and involvement in extrajudicial killings.”
In the same month, the vice president filed a Supreme Court petition challenging the validity of the impeachment complaint.
Senate President Chiz Escudero said Duterte’s impeachment trial will start after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July.
