MANILA—The House impeachment team said Monday that Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) findings on names listed in Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s confidential fund records support its allegation that public funds were misused.

Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, spokesperson for the House impeachment team, made the statement after PSA Assistant National Statistician Marizza Grande testified that 1,685 of 2,669 names appearing on confidential fund payee lists from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd) had no birth, marriage, or death records in the PSA database.

“Iisa lang naman ’yung punto dito, eh—talagang mayroong misuse,” Alonto Adiong said at a press briefing during a break in Duterte’s impeachment trial.

Duterte is accused under Article I of misusing, misappropriating, and irregularly liquidating P612.5 million in confidential funds—P500 million from the OVP in 2022 and 2023 and P112.5 million from DepEd in 2023.

Grande said 1,287 of the 1,992 names on the OVP list and 398 of the 677 names on the DepEd list had no records in any of the three PSA civil registry categories.

The PSA also reverified names that produced single matches in its database. Grande testified that 37 of these corresponded to people with official death certificates—32 from the OVP list and five from DepEd.

Another 25 single matches corresponded to birth records of minors, including 20 names from the OVP list and five from DepEd.

Alonto Adiong said the findings raised questions about the acknowledgment receipts (ARs) used to account for confidential fund expenditures.

“Kasi unang-una, paano ka pa naman kukuha ng isang impormasyon sa matagal nang patay?” Alonto Adiong said.

“Pangalawa, paano ka kukuha ng isang impormasyon sa isang bata?” he added.

During her testimony, Grande identified several names that produced single matches with death records. Fortunato Salig, for instance, matched a death certificate showing that a person with the name died on June 29, 2011.

Emilio Sagan matched a death certificate dated July 28, 2015, while Rodolfo P. Traya matched a record showing a person with that name died on May 4, 2021.

Grande also discussed Marlin Sunga, whose single-match PSA record showed a person who died at two months old on Nov. 2, 1965.

Among the names that matched birth records of minors were Beatrice Cuenca, listed in the OVP records, whose birth certificate showed a birth date of Jan. 7, 2022, and Mikay de los Reyes, whose single-match record showed a birth date of Jan. 13, 2020.

Prosecution legal spokesperson Atty. Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr. clarified that a single match did not establish that the person named in an AR was the same individual found in the PSA database.

“Ang sinasabi lang diyan ay ’yung pangalan na naka-reflect sa [AR], sa records ng PSA, iisang tao lamang ang may ganoon ding kaparehong pangalan, at ’yung tao na iyon, these are their records, either namatay na or menor de edad pa nung lumabas siya,” Tolosa said.

Alonto Adiong said the PSA findings, taken together with the questionable names and the records involving deceased people and minors, reinforced the prosecution’s claim of irregular liquidation.

“Akala namin ito ay ghost implementation ng ARs or confidential funds. Hindi lang ghost, na-revive pa, naging zombie na. Nagsalita na ang zombie, di ba?” he said.

“How do you provide document evidencing support or reward? Halimbawa, sabihin natin reward that would lead to a success of the event, kung itong mga ARs na ito nagpapatunay na sobrang minor ang edad, to a point na hindi pa nga sila marunong magsalita,” Alonto Adiong added.

Grande also testified about several unusual names appearing in the OVP ARs that she personally reverified against the PSA database.

Among those she identified as having no birth, marriage, or death records were Arthur Baon, Ralph Josh Bacon, Beverly Claire Pampano, Matthew N. Keso, Maxine Callos, Charles Sampalok Jr., Xiaome Ocho, Dan Rick Ocho, Tomas Panda, Timon Angelo Pusa, and Tina Maching.

Mary Grace Piattos, a name previously scrutinized during the House investigation into Duterte’s confidential funds, likewise had no birth, marriage, or death record in the PSA database, Grande testified.

Tolosa said the prosecution had not claimed that the unusual names were aliases.

“We never took the position that these are aliases. If that will be the explanation that the defense will want to advance, then they can do that and present the necessary evidence to back that up,” Tolosa said.

He also noted that Duterte’s defense did not claim in its answer to the Articles of Impeachment that the questioned names were aliases.

Alonto Adiong said the prosecution initially treated the names as belonging to real people because the ARs bore names and signatures, leading the House to seek verification from the PSA.

“But on the side of the prosecution, we presume that these are real people, kasi pinapirma sila sa AR, eh. Pinapirma ’yung mga pangalang Pusa, may mga pirma,” he said.

“We presume that since these ARs have names and with that affixed signatures, the only agency that can verify whether these names are real, with the people that exist with these names, is the PSA,” he added.

Grande said the PSA searched each name against its birth, marriage, and death records and classified the results as single match, multiple matches, or no record.

She maintained the accuracy of the PSA verification and tabulation presented before the impeachment court.