Duterte impeachment: Lopez, 'Mary Grace Piattos' among witnesses sought

MANILA, Philippines — The chief of staff of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, and confidential payment recipient Mary Grace Piattos were among the 57 witnesses listed by the prosecution panel for Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.

Copies of the prosecution’s pre-trial brief shared by sources with reporters on Thursday showed that for Article I of the Articles of Impeachment, or the allegations of confidential fund (CF) misuse, the prosecution listed 27 witnesses, including Lopez and Piattos.

The prosecution said Lopez will be asked to take the witness stand to “prove that respondent misused and misappropriated confidential funds,” while Piattos will be asked to “testify on their alleged receipt of confidential funds.”

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Aside from the two, the following individuals were also submitted by the prosecution as potential witnesses:

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Former Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman: To testify on the respondent’s requests for OVP and DepEd (Department of Education) CFs and the release of such funds

Edward Fajarda: To testify on the withdrawal, turnover, liquidation, and control by the respondent over DepEd’s CFs

Col. Raymund Dante Lachica and Lt. Col. Dennis Nolasco: To testify on the receipt and utilization of CFs

Atty. Reynold Munsayac: To testify on Madriaga’s allegations regarding the delivery of OVP CFs at Nommu Basho

Lt. Col. Manaros Boransing II, Lt. Col. Magtangol Panopio, Lt. Col. Carlos Sangdaan Jr., Maj. Gen. Adonis Bajao, and AFP representatives: To prove that the YLS/IEC activities were funded by the Philippine Army and the concerned LGs for student-participants, and that no funds from the Department of Education were used in any of these activities

Michael Poa, Duterte’s lawyer for the impeachment, was also listed as a witness. The prosecution said he can “testify on the DepEd’s responses to COA audit findings and his procurement and submission of supporting documents despite having no personal knowledge of confidential fund expenditures.”

Most of the individuals listed as witnesses for Article I were the same individuals invited by the House of Representatives’ committee on good government and public accountability during the 19th Congress, when the panel started investigating Duterte and her offices for alleged CF misuse.

At one point during the committee on good government hearings, former Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop noticed that a certain Mary Grace Piattos — a name similar to a restaurant and a potato chip brand — signed off on the ARs.

Later, Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong showed two ARs — one for the OVP and another for DepEd — which were both received by a certain Kokoy Villamin. However, the signatures and handwriting used by Villamin in the two documents differed.

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The Philippine Statistics Authority eventually informed the committee that Piattos and Villamin’s names were also not found in their live birth, marriage, or death database.

READ: House probe: OVP, DepEd CFs received by same man, different signatures

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Lopez, meanwhile, also testified before the committee on good government on November 20, 2024. However, former ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro moved to cite her for contempt after lawmakers found her to have committed undue interference in the panel’s hearings.

READ: House panel moves to cite OVP exec Lopez for contempt

In the letter, Lopez asked the agency to refrain from providing the House with its audit observations on the OVP’s confidential fund (CF) expenses. Castro said she believed Lopez and the OVP were ordering COA, which would have prevented the House from scrutinizing the office’s transactions.

Before Castro filed the motion, lawmakers were already frustrated with Lopez after she insisted that there were matters in the OVP that she was not privy to, despite being Vice President Sara Duterte’s chief of staff.

READ: Solons quiz Lopez over claims she doesn’t know OVP secret fund deals

Lopez’s arrest prompted Duterte to visit the House premises before she eventually locked herself in the office of her brother, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte. While in the room, Duterte held an online press briefing where she criticized former Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, first ;ady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Vice President Duterte also allayed supporters’ concerns about her safety, saying she had contracted an assassin who would kill the Marcos couple and Romualdez if she herself were killed.

READ: Sara Duterte’s kill remark vs Marcos is ‘active threat’ – Palace

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This accusation led to Article IV of the Articles of Impeachment, which tackles Duterte’s threats to ranking officials. /mcm /atm