House to seek PSA help on ‘Mary Grace Piattos’

Metro Manila, Philippines — A House panel will coordinate with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to ascertain the authenticity of a certain Mary Grace Piattos in relation to the probe of the supposed confidential fund mismanagement of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

The name Mary Grace Piattos surfaced during the House good government and public accountability’s inquiry on the office of Vice President Sara Duterte’s supposed mismanagement of confidential funds, in particular in the acknowledgement receipts.

Lawmakers said the name seemed like a combination of a restaurant and snack brand.

Committee chairperson Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua said the committee will “definitely” coordinate with the PSA on the matter.

“Actually, na-highlight lang ‘yung pangalan niya, Mary Grace Piattos, because of the – sabi nga ni Congressman [Romeo] Acop, parang pagkain na pinagsama. But more than that, hindi lang ‘yan ‘yung nakita naming problema rito,” he added in a press briefing on Tuesday, Nov. 19.

[Translation: The name, Mary Grace Piattos, was highlighted because as Congressman Acop said it is like a combination of food names. But more than that, that is not the only problem we saw.]

The owners of the restaurant and the snack food brand have yet to comment on the matter.

Aside from the Piattos name, lawmakers noted that some of the acknowledgement receipts of the OVP have no names, no signatures, no or wrong date written.

There were also acknowledgement receipts signed by different persons but have the same penmanship or ink used.

“Kasi ang suspetsa ho namin dito, naglabas sila ng acknowledgement receipt after ng AOM, Audit Observation Memo at hinihingan sila ng mga evidence,” Chua said.

[Translation: We suppose that they released the acknowledgement receipts after the Audit Observation Memo was issued and they were asked for evidence.]

“Talagang kaduda-duda… Napakalaking halaga pero ganito na nga lang ang requirement, hindi pa maitama,” Taguig City 2nd District Rep. Pammy Zamora, meanwhile, said.

[Translation: It’s doubtful. It’s a big amount and they cannot get the requirements correct.]

The committee will hold its sixth hearing on the supposed mismanagement of the P612.5-million confidential funds of the OVP and the Education Department, which Duterte led, on Nov. 20.

The vice president said she will not attend the scheduled hearing. But lawmakers are hoping she will be present to shed light on the issues hounding her.