Will VP Duterte finally answer who is Mary Grace Piattos?

Will Vice President Sara Duterte finally reveal the real identity of Mary Grace Piattos?

Atty. Michael Poa, spokesman of Duterte’s impeachment defense team, said the Vice President had long maintained that she is ready to talk about confidential activities of the Office of the Vice-President and the Department of Education, at the appropriate forum.

That forum, he said, could be the impeachment provided that the complaints filed against the Vice President go to the Senate for trial.

“Siguro ang appropriate forum ‘yung impeachment kung talagang maglabasan kasi ‘yung mga confidential activities,” Poa said in a DZMM interview.

The spokesman said confidential activities cannot be disclosed to the public since it could jeopardize ongoing operations.

“Dito sa impeachment, kung ito man ang tamang venue, siguro mailalahad na natin kung ano and we have been preparing for that naman. Siyempre gusto nating sagutin. Dun natin mapapatunayan na walang basehan ang batikos na katiwalian,” he said.

He noted Duterte’s defense team has been preparing for a full-blown trial since last year after the articles of impeachment were filed.

Alleged misuse and malversation of Department of Education and Office of the Vice Presidents confidential funds was just one of the seven articles of impeachment against Duterte, including the alleged spending of P125 million in confidential funds in 11 days in 2022.

The name “Mary Grace Piattos”, one of the alleged beneficiaries of the confidential funds, was earlier flagged by lawmakers, with the Philippine Statistics Authority confirming the person does not exist, having no birth, marriage or death certificates. The Vice President's camp earlier said the name could be a pseudonym.

The Supreme Court, however, ruled that the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte were unconstitutional for violating the 1-year bar rule.

On Monday Makabayan lawmakers Antonio Tinio, Renee Co, and Sarah Elago refiled the first impeachment complaint against Duterte, with former lawmakers France Castro and Neri Colmenares among the named complainants.

A second impeachment complaint by Tindig Pilipinas’ Francis “Kiko” Aquino Dee and Sylvia Estrada Claudio, and other civil society leaders and endorsed by ML party-list Rep. Leila de Lima and Akbayan party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña was also filed Monday.

In the interview, Poa said Duterte was not surprised by the refiling of the impeachment complaints against her and had informed her defense team of possible impeachment attempts until 2027.

Asked for the Vice President’s reaction to the refiling of complaints, he said: “Halos on a daily basis magkausap naman kami. She is very hands-on on this. Was she cool about this? To be honest, hindi na sorpresa sa kanya. Siya nga ang nagsabi sa amin noon, alam niyo i-expect niyo na ‘yan.”

“‘Kung makalampas man tayo this year, next year meron ulit ‘yan. Marahil kung, let’s say malampasan natin ‘yung this year, baka 2027 meron ulit ‘yan.’ Kumbaga, na-prepare na niya ‘yung defense team,” he recalled Duterte as saying.

Poa said the Vice President was already prepared to answer the impeachment allegations last year. “She was raring to go and she was saying ‘Sagutin na ‘yan’. Sa ngayon, I don’t think anything has changed. She is ready to face it,” he said.

Duterte’s defense lawyers have also been meeting regularly to fine-tune her defense and to present the facts.

“Business as usual dahil hindi natigil ang aming preparasyon,” he said.

NO JUDICIAL OVERREACH

In the interview, Poa also denied that the Supreme Court committed judicial overreach when it ruled that a legislative session day is equivalent to one calendar day “for purposes of the first mode of initiating an impeachment complaint.”

He pointed out the SC ruling did not say anything about who can be impeached or if an official should be impeached since these are exclusively under the powers of Congress.

“Sa pananaw namin, walang judicial overreach…Hindi sila nakialam sa allegations if there is basis. It was really more on the process kung mayroon ika nga grave abuse of discretion sa pag initiate ng impeachment, which is really provided for by the Constitution Article 8, Section 1,” he said.

He noted that under the High Court’s expanded power of judicial review, the SC can review acts of co-equal branches if there was grave abuse of discretion.

“Yung proseso lang po ang tiningnan dito, hindi ‘yung kung may kasalanan ba o wala…Na clarify ‘yung dapat mong gawin in accordance with the Constitution. Sa tingin ko, walang masyadong nabago,” he said.

“If we want someone impeached, dapat mabilis, hindi na dapat patagalin,” he added.