‘Where in the world is Mary Grace Piattos?’

An authenticated copy of the acknowledgment receipt signed by one Mary Grace Piattos is discussed during the impeachment trial on August 3, 2026. (Courtesy: Senate of the Philippines)

The House prosecution panel on Tuesday said it plans to request a subpoena for the infamous “Mary Grace Piattos” to compel her attendance at the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

In an ambush interview, House private prosecutor lawyer Lorna clarified however, that the prosecution has yet to find Mary Grace Piattos—one of the supposed recipients of confidential fund payouts from the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

“I will subpoena Mary Grace Piattos,” Kapunan told reporters.

In the same forum, Kapunan described the alleged misuse of the Vice President’s confidential funds a “scam against the people,” citing audit findings that questioned whether public money was spent for its declared purposes and adequately supported by documents.

The issue involved P500 million in confidential funds released to the OVP and P112.5 million received by the Department of Education (DepEd) while Duterte was concurrently serving as Education secretary.

Kapunan, counsel for the House prosecution panel, made the statement during a break in state auditor Roderick Wamil’s testimony at the Senate Impeachment Court.

Wamil testified that the OVP and the DepEd failed to submit documentary evidence supporting several confidential fund payments for the first two quarters of 2023.

He also identified medical and food aid, incentives and travel-related expenses that he said were outside the authorized uses of confidential funds under Joint Circular No. 2015-01.

The circular sets the rules for the allocation, use and audit of confidential and intelligence funds.

Wamil said reward payments were not supported by documents showing that information supplied by informants resulted in successful information-gathering or surveillance activities.

For DepEd, he testified that no documents were submitted identifying the schools, learners, communities, alleged threats or operations covered by programs broadly described as counterinsurgency, abuse prevention, anti-illegal activities and anti-extremism or terrorism efforts.

“The victims of the scam are ordinary people. The scam is worth P612 million,” Kapunan asserted.

She compared the alleged misuse to asking a parent for money to buy books, but spending it on makeup or a date.

“When you asked your mother for P5,000 to buy a book. but you use it to buy makeup or go on a date, what is that called? You scammed your mom,” Kapunan explained.

“If that happens over and over again, and you don’t use the money for the purpose you claimed you would, then that is called a scam,” she added.

Kapunan also said the central issue was not the aliases or names appearing in acknowledgment receipts, but whether the money was properly accounted for and supported by evidence.

“We aren’t emphasizing the names. What we are pointing out is the amount and how it was used. There are no receipts,” she said.

She cited expenses attributed to medicines, supplies and safe houses and questioned whether documents proved that the funds were actually used for those purposes.

“Regardless of whose name that is, where was it used? What is the evidence that it was used for medicines? What is the evidence that it was used for supplies? What is the evidence that it was used for a safe house?,” she said.

She also rejected claims that Duterte was being singled out even though other government agencies received confidential funds.

Kapunan said allegations involving the confidential funds of other public officials should be raised in separate proceedings.

Asked about the use of aliases in confidential and intelligence fund transactions, she said no rule expressly permitted or prohibited the practice.

“There is no basis to use it or no basis not to use it,” she said.

Asked when the subpoena would possibly be issued, Kapunan said they were still looking for Piattos.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) earlier said it has no record of “Mary Grace Piattos” in its database, meaning she has no recorded certificate of live birth, certificate of marriage, and certificate of death.

The name Mary Grace Piattos resurfaced on the impeachment trial on Monday when the prosecution panel presented it as one of the names in the acknowledgment receipts that covered the release of P125 million worth of confidential funds in the last days of December 2022. — Maricel Cruz & Ram Superable

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