Prosecution Challenges Mary Grace Piattos to Finally Show Up in VP Sara Duterte Impeachment Trial
SARA DUTERTE – Questions surrounding the identity of Mary Grace Piattos have taken center stage after prosecutors invited her to testify in the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte.
The prosecution panel in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment proceedings has included confidential fund (CF) recipient Mary Grace Piattos among its witnesses, despite maintaining that she may not actually exist. The move raised questions about why prosecutors would summon someone they believe to be a fictitious person.
During a press briefing on Friday, prosecution spokespersons Atty. Jay Tolosa and Lanao del Sur Representative Zia Alonto Adiong explained that the invitation is intended to provide Piattos, as well as the defense, an opportunity to challenge allegations that several individuals listed as recipients in the acknowledgment receipts (ARs) for confidential funds used by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) are not real.
“That’s a good point, if she does not exist, why name her as a witness? But that’s exactly the point. This is the opportunity for her, if she actually exists, to come forward and say, here I am presenting myself before the impeachment court, ready to testify,” Tolosa, the newest member of the private prosecution panel, said.
“So if she does not appear, this just supports our position that she’s a made up person,” he added.
Adiong acknowledged that the prosecution’s position is based on findings presented during House hearings, which suggested that Piattos could be a fabricated identity. He cited reports from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which found no birth, marriage, or death records under the name Mary Grace Piattos. He also referred to testimony from National Bureau of Investigation forensic examiner Carolyn Moldez-Pitoy, who stated that only a small group of individuals appeared to have signed multiple acknowledgment receipts for confidential funds.
“We wanted for the agencies involved in determining the existence of a particular person with this particular name to confirm to the committee on justice that there is really a Mary Grace Piattos, that she is not a fictitious character, that this is based on an actual living person. Unfortunately, the PSA came out with the report that there’s no record whatsoever on a Mary Grace Piattos who was born or wed,” Alonto Adiong said.
“Our contention is that, and confirmed by the PSA, that Mary Grace Piattos does not exist and has no record. And therefore the logical conclusion that we can derive is that the acknowledgement receipts […] those who received the confidential funds… might probably be a made-up character,” he added.
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