As the Senate braces for Vice President Sara Duterte’s historic impeachment trial next month, fresh revelations from the House of Representatives added fuel to the fire.
House Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V of La Union yesterday exposed a string of bogus and suspicious names allegedly listed as beneficiaries of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) confidential funds—including surnames eerily similar to sitting senators, a congressman, and even a famous bakeshop brand.
“These irregularities are too glaring to ignore—these names from the supposed Budol Gang call for a deeper look,” Ortega said as lawmakers zero in on what could be one of the alleged biggest fund misuse scandals in recent memory.
Ortega said he found out individuals with surnames of current senators: “Beth Revilla,” “Janice Marie Revilla,” “Diane Maple Lapid,” “John A. Lapid Jr.,” “Clarisse Hontiveros,” “Kristine Applegate Estrada,” and “Denise Tanya Escudero” as alleged beneficiaries of confidential funds.
Beyond the now-notorious “Mary Grace Piattos,” Ortega highlighted new entries such as “Cannor Adrian Contis,” along with individuals bearing the surname “Solon”: Kris Solon and Paul M. Solon, a surname similar to Sarangani Rep. Steve Chiongbian Solon.
“Mary Grace Piattos isn’t the only café-restaurant named after Contis. When your office has confidential funds, do you also have a sweet tooth?” Ortega said in a mix of English and Filipino.
“As far as the Senate, this ‘Budol Gang’ has not missed it. It is rare that even the last names of our esteemed senators are affected. That is how the list of supposed beneficiaries of the OVP confidential funds will be compiled,” he added.
The lawmaker added that the frequency and creativity of the names no longer seem coincidental and could point to a systemic attempt to allegedly obscure confidential fund transactions.
“We are talking about public funds. If they can’t show evidence that these people are real, this itself will be strong evidence against him in the impeachment trial,” Ortega said.
Similar to previously flagged entries, Ortega said the newly surfaced names did not appear in official birth, marriage, or death records from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: “Lawmakers, bakeshop among fake names in OVP confidential funds list”
