Who is Ramil Madriaga? From being an allegedly former bagman to now being a witness.
WHO IS RAMIL MADRIAGA? Allegedly, he was a former aide of VP Sara Duterte, but at present, he is a detained witness in the impeachment proceedings.
Ramil Madriaga was a banking “dummy” for the father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, and a “bagman” for the daughter, current Vice President Sara Duterte. As the impeachment proceedings continue, Madriage plays a crucial role as a key witness.
To prove some of his claims, he volunteered to have at least six bank accounts in his name opened for scrutiny by the House committee on justice.
He also added that the ₱125 million allocated to the Office of the Vice President in 2022 was not disbursed within 11 days. It was actually gone in 24 hours.
WHO IS RAMIL MADRIAGA?
He has been identified as an alleged leader of a kidnapping syndicate, a former counter-intelligence agent, and a self-confessed former aide to the Dutertes.
Based on his notarized statement in November 2025, he worked for two years at the now-defunct Economic Intelligence and Investigation Bureau while studying law at San Sebastian College in Manila in the early 1990s. He graduated from law school in 1995 but did not pass the bar exam in the same year.
In 1997, the Pasig City Regional Trial Court found Madriaga and two others guilty of kidnapping businessman Vicente Uy for a P10-million ransom. He was sentenced to death by the lower court, but the Supreme Court acquitted him in 2003 due to a lack of sufficient evidence to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt
He worked at the National Security Council from 2001 until meeting the Dutertes between late 2015 and 2016. Madriaga met FPRRD through the late Roilo Golez, a former congressman who served Parañaque City for six terms and was appointed as national security adviser by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
According to his affidavit, he worked with Sara and Digong for “campaign and organizing activities, intelligence gathering and sabotage, and transportation of large sums of money.”
From 2018 to 2021, during Duterte’s administration, he served as a civil counter-intelligence agent, supplying intelligence for the government’s anti-drug campaign, “Oplan Double Barrel,” and conducting training on tactical driving and strategic transport for the Presidential Security Group.
When the younger Duterte took office in July 2022, Madriaga said he was assigned to help form the Vice-Presidential Security and Protection Group, where he brought in two colonels. He also claimed he was ordered to deliver millions of pesos in cash to various individuals.
In July 2023, Madriaga was arrested by the Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group for allegedly leading a kidnap-for-ransom syndicate named after him. He was listed as the fifth most wanted person in the country.
He claimed former Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque filed the case over a land dispute in Bataan, which Roque denied. Since then, Madriaga has been detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.
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