P1M reward up for info on 'Mary Grace Piattos' —House panel

The House good government and public accountability panel has put up a P1 million reward for any information on “Mary Grace Piattos” whose signature appeared the most in acknowledgement receipts for confidential funds of offices under Vice President Sara Duterte.

Zambales Representative Jeff Khonghun, panel vice chairman, made the announcement after Duterte dismissed the ongoing inquiry on the budget use of the OVP and Department of Education (DepEd), under her stint, as politically motivated rather than in aid of legislation.

“[Mahalaga] na malaman natin kung ano iyong katotohanan. Napaka-importante na ‘yung mga tao mismo na tumanggap ng pondo, pumirma sa acknowledgement receipt, eh makausap at maka-attend ng hearing. Isa na nga dito, si Mary Grace Piattos. Kaya nag-usap-usap kami ng mga miyembro para mag-come up ng P1 million para ibigay kung sinuman ang may alam ng kinaroroonan ni Mary Grace Piattos,” Khonghun said in a press conference.

(It is very important for us to know the truth, so it is crucial that those who received the confidential fund should face the inquiry, including a certain Mary Grace Piattos. That is why we decided to put up a P1 million reward for anybody who would know the whereabouts of Mary Grace Piattos.)

It was earlier revealed that the OVP and DepEd submitted documents with wrong dates, signatures without names of signatories, and unreadable names of signatories to justify the disbursement of its confidential funds in 2022 and 2023. 

COA auditor Gloria Camora said many acknowledgment receipts were dated December 2023 but they do not have the data on the exact number. She said there were also undated ARs.

Further, COA confirmed that there were 787 acknowledgement receipts with unnamed signatories and 302 ARs with unreadable names of signatories submitted by the OVP and DepEd to justify its confidential fund use in 2023.

During the hearing, Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop asked COA if it was convinced that “Mary Grace Piattos” was indeed a legitimate signatory, Camora of COA’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office responded, “It could be a person.”

Likewise, Camora said that the name of the said signatory on the acknowledgement receipts appears to be spelled Mary Grace Piyaty, rather than Piattos which is similar to a popular junk food.

But for Khonghun, the Vice President cannot dismiss the acknowledgement receipts as fabricated because these were submitted by the OVP to the COA.

“These acknowledgement receipts were submitted by the OVP to the COA, how can it be fake?” he added.

“Kapag wala si Mary Grace Piattos, eh sigurado lahat ng tao na nandon fictitious na. So, we want to set an example kung sino at [nasaan] ba talaga si Mary Grace Piattos,” Khonghun added.

(If this Mary Grace Piattos is nonexistent, that would mean the rest of the names in those receipts are fictitious. We want to set an example and find out if this Mary Grace Piattos really exists.) —AOL, GMA Integrated News