Jamaine Punzalan

Ramil Madriaga arrives at the House of Representatives and is sworn in before the House Committee on Justice on April 14, 2026, as he testifies during the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

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Rowena Caronan

ABS-CBN Research and Verification Unit

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177623442536120260414-vp-sara-impeachment-ramil-madriaga-MT2.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Ramil Madriaga arrives at the House of Representatives and is sworn in before the House Committee on Justice on April 14, 2026, as he testifies during the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>Ramil Madriaga is back in the public spotlight when he appeared on Tuesday at the House of Representatives as a detained witness in the impeachment proceedings of Vice President Sara Duterte.</p><p>Madriaga has been identified as an alleged leader of a kidnapping syndicate, a former counter-intelligence agent, and a self-confessed former aide to the Dutertes.</p><p>Information about him is largely based on his two affidavits, first submitted in December 2025 and the second during Tuesday’s impeachment hearings. There is also a court decision on his kidnapping case in 2003 and news of his arrest two decades later.</p><p>According to his notarized statement in November 2025, Madriaga worked a two-year stint at the now-defunct Economic Intelligence and Investigation Bureau while studying law at the San Sebastian College in Manila in the early 1990s.</p><p>Madriaga said he graduated from law school in 1995 but did not pass the bar exam in the same year.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/15/sara-duterte-says-madriaga-cannot-even-weave-a-believable-lie-0947" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&#x27;They cannot even weave a believable lie&#x27;: Sara Duterte takes issue with Madriaga&#x27;s law school claims</a></div><p>In 1997, the Pasig City Regional Trial Court found Madriaga and two others guilty of kidnapping businessman Vicente Uy for a P10-million ransom. The lower court sentenced them to death, but the Supreme Court acquitted them in 2003. The High Court decision cited the lack of sufficient evidence to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt and, in a twist, even recognized Madriaga for playing a role in the rescue.</p><p>From 2001 until his introduction to the Dutertes between late 2015 and 2016, Madriaga claimed to have worked at the National Security Council.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>MEETING THE DUTERTES</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FzhSQyaqRfg?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span>Madriaga said his initial contact with then-Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was through the late Roilo Golez, who decided to support Duterte’s presidential bid. Golez was a former congressma<s></s>n who served Parañaque City for six terms and was appointed as national security adviser by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.</div><p>In his affidavits, Madriaga testified to having worked with the older Duterte and his daughter, the incumbent Vice President, for “campaign and organizing activities, intelligence gathering and sabotage, and transportation of large sums of money.”</p><p>From 2018 to 2021, under Duterte’s administration, Madriaga said he worked as a civil counter-intelligence agent for the government. He provided intelligence information for the government’s anti-drug campaign, “Oplan Double Barrel,” and taught tactical driving and strategic transport courses for the Presidential Security Group.</p><p>His work, he said, also included a plan to “sabotage” former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, a vocal critic of the older Duterte’s administration.</p><p>From being an intelligence agent, Madriaga said he transitioned to become part of the younger Duterte’s political team for her campaign in the 2022 elections. He said he was previously introduced to Duterte’s daughter, then-Davao City mayor, in 2018.</p><p>Madriaga admitted to having served as a bank “dummy” for the older Duterte, through which millions of pesos were coursed, including funds for his daughter’s national aspirations.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/14/-wait-madriaga-claims-he-disposed-of-ovp-s-p125-m-confidential-funds-in-less-than-24-hours-1424" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Madriaga claims he &#x27;disposed&#x27; of OVP&#x27;s P125-M confidential funds &#x27;in less than 24 hours&#x27;</a></div><p>Madriaga said he helped establish and register the non-profit organization ISIP Pilipinas Inc., or the Initiative for Social Justice, Innovation, and Progress Pilipinas Inc. The NGO name, he said, initially also stood for “Inday Sara Is My President” but was later referred to “Inday Sara para Ikalawang Pangulo” when she pivoted to vice-presidential race.</p><p>When the younger Duterte assumed her post in July 2022, Madriaga said he was tasked to form the Vice-Presidential Security and Protection Group, to which he introduced two colonels into the circle. He was also instructed to make millions of cash deliveries to different personalities.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H5Hhfvml39k?&amp;pp=0gcJCdMKAYcqIYzv&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span>Madriaga revealed an alleged plan to unseat incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who ran alongside the Vice President. He said his specific assignment was to “recruit civil groups, school clubs, fraternities, criminal groups, and syndicates.”</div><div><br/></div><div><strong>THE FALLOUT</strong><br/><br/></div><p>In July 2023, Madriaga was arrested by the Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group for allegedly leading a kidnap-for-ransom syndicate, which is named after him. The police called the group “one of the most dangerous criminal syndicates” and said that Madriaga was its 5th most wanted person in the country.</p><p>Madriaga believed that former Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque filed the kidnapping case against him because he stopped Roque from allegedly grabbing land from farmers in Bataan. Roque denied these claims.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2026/3/23/17-farmers-file-land-grabbing-complaint-vs-harry-roque-others-1902" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">17 farmers file land grabbing complaint vs Harry Roque, others</a></div><p>Since his arrest, Madriaga has been detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3VCbqpG1n5w?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span>Madriaga claimed that sometime in October 2025, he saw the Vice President at the detention facility and spoke with her over the phone. He said she was “apologetic” to him for failing to help him in his ongoing case.</div><p>Madriaga said he felt “betrayed” that the Vice President did not stop Roque, a known Duterte ally and supporter, thus prompting the two’s fallout.</p><p>While detained, Madriaga made headlines in December 2025 when his affidavit—notarized in November 2025—was submitted, through a lawyer, to the Office of the Ombudsman. In his affidavit, he declared his connections to the Dutertes.</p><p>Since executing an affidavit, Madriaga has expressed fears for his safety, claiming that on March 3, he was attempted to forcibly dragged into a confined bodega.</p><p>He believed that it was a threat from former Negros Oriental Rep. Arnie Teves, who allegedly met with the Vice President at Camp Bagong Diwa. Teves is also detained there for allegedly masterminding the murder of former Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo.</p><p>The Vice President has denied Madriaga’s claims, and on March 4, she filed a perjury complaint against him before the Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office.</p><p>On Tuesday, Madriaga faced the House Committee on Justice during its impeachment hearing, alleging the Vice President of corruption and other wrongdoings.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/14/ramil-madriaga-signs-waiver-of-bank-secrecy-on-alleged-dummy-accounts-1608" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ramil Madriaga signs waiver of bank secrecy on alleged dummy accounts</a></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7pw6EN1MPzk?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xoc70nFOenw?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Ramil Madriaga, witness to Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment complaints, has been identified as an alleged kidnapping syndicate leader, a former counter-intelligence agent, and a self-confessed former aide to the Dutertes.</p>

Ramil Madriaga, witness to Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment complaints, has been identified as an alleged kidnapping syndicate leader, a former counter-intelligence agent, and a self-confessed former aide to the Dutertes.

Who is Ramil Madriaga?

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Who is Ramil Madriaga?

Rowena Caronan,

ABS-CBN Research and Verification Unit

Published April 15, 2026 02:37 PM PHT

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Ramil Madriaga

Sara Duterte

Rodrigo Duterte

Office of the Ombudsman

impeachment hearing

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