‘Team Grocery’ joins fake names in VP Duterte’s confidential fund scandal

Metro Manila, Philippines - A new batch of suspicious names—dubbed Team Grocery—has surfaced in the alleged misuse of Vice President Sara Duterte’s ₱500 million confidential funds, House Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V revealed on Sunday.

The names—Pampano, Harina, Casim, Bacon, and Patty Ting—were reportedly listed as fund beneficiaries and submitted to the Commission on Audit (COA).

Ortega pointed out that the names sound eerily like items found in wet markets and grocery stores. Beverly Claire Pampano appears to reference the widely consumed fish, while Mico Harina directly translates to flour in Filipino. Meanwhile, Ralph Josh Bacon sounds like a nod to the breakfast staple, Patty Ting resembles burger patties, and Sala Casim is a play on kasim, a pork shoulder cut used in Filipino dishes.

‘Where did the money go?’

The latest exposé follows previous revelations of bizarre names linked to the so-called Budol Gang—a term used for fictitious fund recipients. Earlier lists included Team Amoy Asim, Chichirya, Cellphone, and multiple Dodong entries, further fueling suspicions of fund misallocation.

Ortega cited Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) records, revealing that Pampano, Harina, Bacon, Patty Ting, and Casim have no registered birth, marriage, or death records, raising strong indications that they were entirely fabricated.

““Kung hindi sila totoong tao, nasaan napunta ang pondo?” Ortega asked.

[TRANSLATION: If these people don’t exist, then where did the money go?]

In addition, he also flagged alarming inconsistencies among the 1,992 individuals listed as OVP confidential fund recipients. At least 1,322 had no birth records, 1,456 had no marriage records, and 1,593 had no death records.

“Ang mas nakakalungkot, patuloy itong nadadagdagan. Typo ai to? Mukhang may effort na talagang mag-imbento ng listahan para pagtakpan kung saan dinala ang pondo.”

[TRANSLATION: What’s even more alarming is that the list keeps growing. Is this just a typo? It looks like there’s a deliberate effort to fabricate names and cover up where the funds went.]

VP Duterte in The Hague amid growing scrutiny

As scrutiny intensifies, Vice President Duterte remains in The Hague, Netherlands, assisting her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who is facing an International Criminal Court (ICC) probe over his drug war.

The Vice President has remained silent on allegations linking fake names to the misuse of confidential funds—despite mounting evidence.

Speaking to reporters in The Hague two weeks ago, she cast doubt on the investigation’s credibility, claiming she couldn’t verify the names on the receipts due to concerns over the chain of evidence.

“Ah, ‘yung impeachment ba? Ito ‘yung walang kamatayang confidential funds na atake nila,” Duterte said.

[TRANSLATION: Oh, the impeachment? It’s their never-ending attack on the confidential funds.]

Meanwhile, House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability Chair Rep. Joel Chua flagged similar irregularities in the Department of Education (DepEd), where 405 out of 677 names listed as confidential fund beneficiaries also lacked birth records.

“Hindi ito ang unang beses na may nakita tayong katawa-tawa o kakaibang pangalan,” Ortega noted.

[TRANSLATION: This isn’t the first time we’ve seen absurd or suspicious names surface.]

The House is expected to intensify its probe into the alleged misuse of OVP and DepEd’s combined P612.5 million in confidential funds.