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Mark Ernest Villeza - The Philippine Star
January 27, 2026 | 12:00am
Vice President Sara Duterte shares breakfast with personnel from the Office of the Vice President—Central Office and Pangasinan Satellite Office—after Mass at the Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag Church in Pangasinan in October 2025.
Vice President Sara Duterte via Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — A law firm representing Ramil Madriaga has disputed Vice President Sara Duterte’s denial of knowing her former aide, who accused her of receiving 2022 campaign funds from drug lords and Philippine offshore gaming operators.
In a statement sent to The STAR, Palad Lauron Palad & Te said evidence contradicts Duterte’s denial.
Invitations, videos, screenshots, testimonies and public statements show prior interaction between Madriaga and Duterte, the law firm stressed.
The firm also addressed the denial of Col. Raymund Dante Lachica, Duterte’s former chief of security, in connection with a cyberlibel case filed against Madriaga.
They said sworn affidavits and congressional records showed that Madriaga was introduced to Lachica through another officer and large amounts of confidential funds were allegedly handed to Lachica.
The funds remain unaccounted for, they said.
Lachica filed a case against Madriaga, but not against state officials who testified on the same matters, the law firm pointed out.
As for claims circulating online, the law firm clarified that Madriaga never claimed to be the Vice President’s classmate. He was only a schoolmate at San Sebastian College-Recoletos Manila, they said.?Madriaga was not a Presidential Security Group security detail, but a specialized trainer, the firm said.
He had no kidnapping cases, aside from a 1997 case in which he was acquitted in 2003, they noted.
Madriaga welcomed all investigations and was prepared to cooperate fully, the law firm said.
