House Deputy Majority Leader Francisco Paolo Ortega recently revealed a new list of individuals allegedly linked to Vice President Sara Duterte’s confidential funds. Ortega stated that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) submitted names to the Commission on Audit (COA), including Honeylet Camille Sy, Feonna Biong, Feonna Villegas, Fiona Ranitez, Ellen Magellan, Erwin Q. Ewan, Gary Tanada, and Joel Linangan.
Ortega noted that Sy, Biong, Villegas, and Linangan were listed as beneficiaries of the OVP’s ₱500 million confidential fund. Ranitez, Ewan, Magellan, and Tanada were reportedly linked to disbursements from DepEd’s ₱112.5 million fund.
The La Union lawmaker expressed concern that none of these names appear in any official Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) records, such as birth, marriage, or death certificates.
“This is a serious matter—the repeated use of fictitious names is absurd and unacceptable,” Ortega stated. He added, “We are dealing with public funds. The inability to verify the existence of these individuals will serve as strong evidence in an impeachment trial.”
This revelation follows previous reports of questionable documents submitted by the OVP and DepEd to justify their confidential fund expenditures for 2022 and 2023. These included forms with missing or illegible signatures and incorrect dates. One previously flagged name, “Mary Grace Piattos,” also lacked a PSA record.
Following the House of Representatives’ impeachment of Duterte on February 5th, with the support of over 200 lawmakers, Duterte filed a petition with the Supreme Court to annul the impeachment complaint. Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero indicated a ruling may be forthcoming by October. The Senate resumes session on June 2nd, with the impeachment trial scheduled to begin on July 30th.
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