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Daphne Galvez - The Philippine Star
December 13, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte is facing plunder, bribery, malversation and graft complaints over the alleged misuse of P612 million worth of confidential funds, which were allegedly diverted, misused and concealed across the Office of the Vice President (OVP) as well as the Department of Education (DepEd), which she previously headed.
Civic society leaders, including priests, economists and members of academe, filed a complaint against Duterte and 15 other officials of the OVP and the DepEd before the Office of the Ombudsman yesterday.
The eight complainants arrived at the Office of the Ombudsman with a truckload of documents, which they presented as evidence as they filed the complaint.
They accused the OVP and DepEd of employing a “systematic scheme” to divert, mishandle and conceal confidential funds, through the preparation of vouchers, blind certification, encashment, handover, distribution and cover-up.
These, the complainants said, constitute violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
They claimed disbursement vouchers were unsupported and certifications were signed without review. Entire cash advances were allegedly turned over to unauthorized Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) officers designated by Duterte, even though they have no legal authority to receive government funds.
The liquidation, meanwhile, was completed using fake acknowledgement receipts bearing fabricated names such as “Mary Grace Piattos,” “Nova” and “Oishi.”
Many receipts, they said, allegedly bore identical handwriting or dates when the agencies had no confidential funds. AFP officers later testified that they never received confidential funds despite certifications used by DepEd officials.
They also cited sworn testimonies of former undersecretary Gloria Mercado and chief accountant Ma. Rhunna Catalan, who said they received monthly envelopes of cash of up to P50,000 from Sunshine Fajarda, who claimed the funds came from the OVP.
The complainants argued that the respondents handled and diverted significant amounts of public money without supporting documents and fabricated receipts, resulting in unaccounted funds, forming the basis for the malversation charges.
They also said the concealment of public spending, the suppression of oversight and the misuse of confidential funds constitute culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust.
The complainants include Magsaysay Awardee Fr. Flaviano Villanueva, running priest Fr. Roberto Reyes, former presidential adviser on the peace process Teresita Quintos-Deles, former Department of Finance undersecretary and economist Maria Cielo Magno; youth leaders Matthew Christian Silverio, John Lloyd Crisostomo and anti-corruption advocate Christopher Cabahug.
The complainants recalled how Duterte refused to explain where her offices spent the public funds, despite numerous investigations and congressional inquiries.
“Her indiscriminate misuse of public funds without fear of accountability is outright criminal and a perfect example of the betrayal of public trust,” Villanueva told reporters.
“Today, we call upon the institution of the ombudsman to put an end to this mockery of the system of checks and balances as enshrined in our Constitution. We fervently hope that our charges of plunder, conversation, bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust and gross violation of the Constitution be upheld against Vice President Sara Duterte and she, at least, be called upon to account for hundreds of millions of confidential funds that she plundered. And if she fails to do so, she should no less than be found criminally liable for it,” he added.
Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds was one of the grounds for the impeachment complaint filed by the House of Representatives against her.
But it was unanimously declared as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court (SC) last July for violating the one-year bar rule. A motion for reconsideration is pending.
The petitioners said their complaint is only exploring one of the legal remedies available to the public that could exact accountability from public officers.
‘Political stunt’
The Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) said the filing of the complaints against Duterte was a “political stunt.”
“PDP views with both alarm and amusement the latest harebrained political stunt of certain sectors in filing plunder charges against Vice President Sara Duterte,” PDP deputy spokesman Ferdinand Topacio said.
He said the petitioners should prioritize going after the “thievery” by House members, “whose acts were enabled by the indispensable participation” of the President in the passage of the national budget and in the insertions.
Topacio said with plummeting credibility and trust ratings, the “panic-stricken” administration “will definitely pull out all the stops” to prevent Duterte “by means purely foul” from becoming president.
Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro slammed Topacio for linking Malacañang to the complaint, pointing out that the petitioners are Marcos critics.
“It is clear that these obstructionists operate against President Marcos Jr. They will always fabricate stories to divert attention away from the corruption allegations against VP Sara,” Castro said.
POGOs, drug dealers as backers
Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido Abante urged the ombudsman and relevant House committees to investigate the sworn allegations of Ramil Lagunoy Madriaga that Duterte’s campaign in 2021-2022 was bankrolled by Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) and drug dealers.
“These are serious allegations and are all contained in a sworn affidavit. The story of Madriaga was well-detailed. We need to investigate this thoroughly if there is any truth to any of his claims,” Abante said in a statement.
Among the acts Madriaga alleged were cash deliveries he personally delivered at a Timog comedy bar, where then OVP spokesman Reynold Munsayac was supposedly present, handoffs in the Office of the Ombudsman parking area and at SM Megamall, runs using a white Toyota Vios carrying as much as P80 million and repeated drop-offs at a residence in Jordan Plains, Novaliches.
Madriaga also claimed to have organized the Inday Sara Duterte Is My President Pilipinas network and to have worked under figures connected to the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group. Former VPSPG chief Col. Raymund Dante Lachica denied yesterday any links to Madriaga.
“I categorically state that I do not know Mr. Madriaga and have no personal or professional dealings with him at any time,” Lachica declared. — Jose Rodel Clapano, Michael Punongbayan, Bella Cariaso, Helen Flores
