MANILA – Vice President Sara Duterte’s legal team said they are prepared to disclose the identity of “Mary Grace Piattos” if the Senate proceeds with an impeachment trial.

“While it may be a cliché, we have been saying that we will answer it (issue on Mary Grace Piattos) in the appropriate forum. This is the appropriate forum, the impeachment,” Duterte’s lawyer Michael Poa told radio dzMM. He added that certain information cannot be revealed outside official proceedings due to legal restrictions under Republic Act 3019, which punishes the unauthorized disclosure of confidential information.

The controversy over “Mary Grace Piattos” stems from allegations that the alias—named after a popular restaurant and a local snack brand—received the largest share of confidential funds from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in December 2022. House deputy speaker and Zambales 1st district Rep. Jay Khonghun first raised the issue last year, citing 158 acknowledgment receipts attached to liquidation reports submitted to the Commission on Audit. Lawmakers alleged that these receipts were fabricated to justify P125 million in confidential funds reportedly spent in just 11 days.

Poa said the defense team has been preparing for a full trial and is focused on disproving the corruption allegations. “Of course, we want to answer all of these, so that we can prove that the criticisms of corruption against the Vice President are really baseless,” he said.

The 16-member legal team includes Poa, attorneys from the Fortun Narvasa & Salazar law firm, Mark Vinluan, Ralph Bodota, and other members such as Philip Sigfrid Fortun, Gregorio Narvasa II, Sheila Sison, and Roberto Batungbacal.

Poa noted that Duterte is closely involved in preparations. “She has been very hands on. Was she cool about it? To be honest, she was not surprised. In fact, she even told us before, ‘if we get through this year, next year it will happen again.’ So she has prepared the defense team to expect such impeachment complaints to continue,” he said.

Meanwhile, House deputy minority leader and ML Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima called for the Vice President to be held accountable. “First, we believe in the causes of the complainants. Second, we believe that there are sufficient grounds and impeachable offenses that could be proven during the hearings of the committee on justice,” she said, adding, “Hold Sara Duterte accountable now, forthwith.”