Manila: The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) found no matching birth, marriage, or death records for 1,685 names submitted for verification from confidential fund payee lists of Vice President Sara Duterte's Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, Assistant National Statistician Marizza Grande told the Senate impeachment court Monday.
According to Philippines News Agency, the total comprises 1,287 names from the OVP's 1,992-name list and 398 from DepEd's 677-name list. Grande's testimony detailed the searches behind the certifications, including the separate verification of Mary Grace Piattos, and the records later generated for names that produced matches. Private prosecutor Mae Divinagracia's presentation also cited at least 37 names matching people already dead and 25 matching children.
Grande subsequently described the death and birth records supporting those categories during questioning by the prosecution. 'Base po doon sa information na ibinigay at sa aming pong database, wala pong record ng kapanganakan, wala pong record ng kasal at wala rin pong record ng kamatayan ang isang po (Based on the information provided and our database, there is no record of birth, no record of marriage, and no record of death for) Mary Grace Piattos,' Grande said. Questioned by Divinagracia, Grande identified the PSA's Nov. 25, 2024 reply and accompanying certification concerning Piattos. She also explained that each negative result referred to a separate category of civil registry document searched in the agency's Civil Registry System, or CRS.
The searches covered all 2,669 submitted names. Grande explained that checking marriage records could account for surname changes, while a death record might exist even when the corresponding birth had not been registered. 'Base po doon sa listahan na binigay ng mga pangalan, isa-isa namin pong hinanap ito sa aming pong database, gamit yung sa birth records at saka yung marriage at saka yung death records po (Based on the provided list of names, we conducted individual database searches across our birth, marriage and death records),' she said.
Grande distinguished three possible outcomes: a single matching entry, multiple matching entries, or a negative result. These categories allowed the PSA to separate names with no matching records from names shared by several people and names producing only one relevant record. For Jason Ramos, the database returned 907 most likely birth-record matches, 305 marriage-record matches and 53 death-record matches. Grande explained that the name was common and corresponded to multiple people in the database. Abigail Deomampo, by contrast, produced one most likely birth-record match. Grande described that result against a database containing approximately 143 million birth records. 'Ibig sabihin po ay nag-iisa na record ang nasa CRS database, kumbaga ito po ay unique record po or single match na nasa database (It means that there is only one record in the CRS database, this is a unique record or a single match in the database),' she said.
The PSA transmitted its findings through official replies and certifications. Meanwhile, PSA records showed that 25 names listed as recipients of confidential funds have matches in their records showing that they are minors, Grande testified. The findings comprised 20 names in the OVP list and five in the DepEd list. Grande described the results of a re-verification supported by birth certificates, as private prosecutor Divinagracia examined the ages associated with specific names in the questioned fund records. Divinagracia's presentation described the 25 children as including three under three years old.
For Beatriz Cuenca, Grande read a Jan. 7, 2022 birth date. The person in that record would have turned one on Jan. 7, 2023, the year Divinagracia used in questioning about the supposed confidential fund payments. For Mikay Delos Reyes, Grande gave Jan. 13, 2020 as the birth date and confirmed an age of three in 2023. She also identified a birth record for Miko Alquizar indicating birth in 2022. Grande, however, said she cannot speculate whether it's the same Beatriz Cuenca who signed the payee list.
On the other hand, a name examined matched the civil registry record of an infant who died at two months old in 1965. Grande identified the name as Marlin Sunga and read the recorded death date as Nov. 2, 1965. 'Base po kasi sa death certificate po niya, two months pa lang ay namatay na po siya (Based on the death certificate on record, she was only two-years-old when she died),' Grande said.
At the conclusion of direct examination, Divinagracia asked Grande whether the displayed summary accurately reflected the certifications she had identified. 'Base po doon sa mga pangalan na ibinigay sa PSA na amin pong vinerify, at sa amin pong verification, at sa summary tabulation po kanina, ang mga impormasyon po na ito ay 100 percent accurate, tumpak po (According to our verification of the names from the PSA and the summary tabulation earlier, these details are 100 percent accurate and correct),' Grande said. The testimony established the PSA findings the prosecution is using to question the identities recorded in the liquidation of confidential funds under Duterte.
Prosecution spokesperson and Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said the Vice President's camp should explain the names in the confidential fund receipts. 'Kasi unang-una, paano ka pa naman kukuha ng isang information sa matagal nang patay (Because, first of all, how are you supposed to get information from someone who has long been dead)?' Adiong said. Adiong said the prosecution sought PSA verification because the receipts carried names, signatures, dates and places. Those details, he argued, required an explanation grounded in records. He said the results strengthened the prosecution's challenge to the use of public money. Adiong said they will no longer summon Mary Grace Piatos.
