‘Joug De Asim,’ ‘Amoy Liu’ among new names floated as confi funds recipients

House Deputy Majority Leader Francisco Paolo Ortega V on Sunday disclosed additional names found as supposed recipients of confidential funds from the Department of Education (DepEd) during Vice President Sara Duterte’s stint as secretary.

The new set of names which Ortega dubbed as “Team Amoy Asim” included: “Amoy Liu,” “Fernan Amuy,” and “Joug De Asim.”

According to the La Union lawmaker, these names that were submitted by the DepEd and the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to the Commission on Audit (CoA), have no birth, marriage, or death records in the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) database. 

“Una, may chichirya, may cellphone, at may prutas. Sumunod ang ‘Dodong Gang.’ Ngayon naman, nandito na ang ‘Team Amoy Asim.’ Kung sa listahan pa lang ay maasim na ang dating ng pekeng mga pangalan, paano pa kaya sa mga transaksyon mismo?” Ortega said. 

(First there were names based on snacks, then cellphones, then fruits. The ‘Dodong Gang’ came next, and now we have ‘Team Amoy Asim.’ If these names from the list already sound sketchy, what more the actual transactions?) 

“Anong klaseng payroll ito? Lahat ng pangalan ay parang gawa-gawa lang. Imposible ang ganito kung sumusunod sa tamang proseso,” he added. 

(What kind of payroll is this? All these names appear fabricated. This is impossible if the right process was followed.) 

GMA News Online sought a comment from Duterte through the OVP, and will update this story once she responds. 

To recall, the DepEd, which Duterte led at the time, and the OVP had submitted documents with allegedly wrong dates, signatures without names of signatories, and unreadable names of signatories to justify the disbursement of its confidential funds in 2022 and 2023.

Among the signatories was “Mary Grace Piattos,” who has no record with the Philippine Statistics Authority. 

Last week, Ortega revealed the names of seven more supposed recipients of confidential funds from the OVP, which included: Jay Kamote, Miggy Mango, Dodong Alcala, Dodong Bina, Dodong Bunal, Dodong Darong, and Dodong S. Barok.

Duterte, who was impeached by the House of Representatives, has stood firm that there was no misuse of confidential funds in her office. —Giselle Ombay/RF, GMA Integrated News