Jamaine Punzalan

Vice President Sara Duterte holds a press conference with the media at the Office of the Vice President in Mandaluyong City on February 7, 2025. Duterte addressed the impeachment case filed against her by Congress, and also assured the public that her office would cooperate with the legal process while continuing to prioritize government programs and services. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

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ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — Civil society groups on Friday filed plunder, graft, bribery, and malversation complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte and 15 others over an alleged “deliberate system” to mishandle and conceal P612.5 million in confidential funds. </p><p>Respondents in the complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman included Office of the Vice President (OVP) Zuleika Lopez and former Department of Education undersecretary Michael Poa. </p><p>Complainants brought up acknowledgement receipts with allegedly fictitious names like <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/12/3/alleged-ovp-fund-recipient-mary-grace-piattos-lacks-birth-record-psa-1000">“Mary Grace Piattos,” w</a>hich supposedly showed the transfer of “significant amounts of public money without lawful justification.” </p><p>Fr. Flaviano Villanueva, one of the complainants, said that while confidential funds are for sensitive operations, accountability should take precedence.</p><p>“Confidential funds is also public funds. When there is a slightest feeling and sabihin nating pagdududa na ito&#x27;y ginamit sa maling pamamaraan then the confidence by nature is preceded by accountability,” Villanueva told reporters.</p><p>“Hindi dapat magtago ang isang taong gumamit ng confidential funds sa confidential nature. Accountability takes precedence before the confidential funds,” he added. </p><p>ABS-CBN News has sought Duterte’s comment. She previously denied misusing confidential funds.</p><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" style="position:absolute;visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;display:block;flex-grow:1" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1999335520200229038&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Aod2-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2025-12-12T02%3A20%3A30.255960%3A297fdc89-0794-463e-a567-dd38ab03388b%26action%3Dedit&amp;sessionId=126a024ba33599e12aa9143c3b9a918ac93931c5&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px"></iframe></div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-twitter-extracted-i1765507141172764486="true"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">WATCH: Piles of documents are at the Office of the Ombudsman for some citizens’ filing of complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte and officials of the OVP and DepEd over alleged plunder, bribery, malversation, among others. <a href="https://twitter.com/ABSCBNNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ABSCBNNews</a> <a href="https://t.co/btFvXNYXxi">pic.twitter.com/btFvXNYXxi</a></p>— Agatha Gregorio (@agathamgregorio) <a href="https://twitter.com/agathamgregorio/status/1999335520200229038?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2025</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script><p>Meanwhile, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) said it viewed the complaint “with both alarm and amusement” because the allegations were “the same rehashed and recycled fabrications since several years back.”   </p><p>“Only a fool would deny that the present Ombudsman is naught but a lapdog of Malacanang, clearly capable of not only bending, but breaking or even disregarding the law to follow the commands of his trainer and master, Mr. Marcos,” PDP Deputy Spokesman Ferdinand Topacio added.</p><p>“As the credibility and trust ratings of the administration continue to plummet, and the inevitability of a Sara Duterte presidency looms on the horizon, the panic-stricken Marcos regime will definitely pull out all stops to prevent that from happening by means purely foul,” he added.</p><p>— With a report from Agatha Gregorio, ABS-CBN News</p>

<p>Civil society groups on Friday filed plunder, bribery, and malversation complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte and several officials of the Office of the Vice President and Department of Education over their use of confidential funds.</p>

Civil society groups on Friday filed plunder, bribery, and malversation complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte and several officials of the Office of the Vice President and Department of Education over their use of confidential funds.

Sara Duterte, 15 others face plunder raps over confidential funds

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Sara Duterte, 15 others face plunder raps over confidential funds

ABS-CBN News

Published December 12, 2025 01:34 PM PHT

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Updated December 12, 2025 02:25 PM PHT

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