Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Article (news)

Harlene Delgado

ABS-CBN News

<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/178694294135320240402-divisoria-heat-index-JC-6643 (5).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">In the materials released by the Office of the Vice President, Duterte can be seen taking her oath and was accompanied by her legal counsel Paolo Panelo. <em>OVP</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA (<strong>2nd UPDATE</strong>) -- Vice President Sara Duterte filed another perjury complaint against Ramil Madriaga who claimed to be her former bagman before the Taguig City Prosecutor&#x27;s Office Monday, August 17. </p><p>In the materials released by the Office of the Vice President, Duterte can be seen taking her oath and was accompanied by her legal counsel, Atty. Paolo Panelo.</p><p>Panelo said the fresh complaint was in connection with Madriaga&#x27;s supplemental affidavit dated April 11, 2026.</p><p>The nearly-1,000-page complaint &quot;thoroughly exposes Madriaga&#x27;s malicious and deliberate falsehoods,&quot; according to Panelo, saying that it contains sworn testimonies of the vice president and twelve corroborating witnesses, government and other official documents and certifications, and contemporaneous messages, photographs, and public records.</p><p>&quot;This exhaustive effort was technically unnecessary given the absurd and unverifiable nature of Madriaga&#x27;s claims, and the fact that the details and few &#x27;evidence&#x27; he supplied immediately and publicly collapsed under the slightest scrutiny,&quot; Duterte&#x27;s lawyer said. </p><p>&quot;However, it had to be done to ensure that Madriaga is held accountable under the law, and to unmask the malicious, baseless, and desperate character of the impeachment effort against the Vice President and of those behind it,&quot; he added. </p><p>Last March, Duterte filed the first perjury complaint against Madriaga.</p><p>The vice president had previously denied Madriaga&#x27;s allegations, saying she had never given Madriaga &quot;instructions of any kind&quot;.</p><div><a class="fr-strong fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/3/4/sara-duterte-madriaga-perjury-complaint-0951">READ: Sara Duterte files perjury complaint vs Madriaga</a></div><p>She added that she had &quot;never visited him in prison, nor have I spoken to him about anything at any time.&quot; </p><p>In his notarized affidavit referred to the Office of the Ombudsman in December 2025, Madriaga alleged he executed big-time cash deliveries on Duterte&#x27;s behalf, adding a national campaign for Duterte was funded by Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) and drug lords.</p><p>But Duterte said Madriaga, who is currently facing serious criminal charges and has a prior criminal record, &quot;appears to be acting out of desperation to secure his release from detention.&quot;</p><p>&quot;He is now disseminating false statements to government authorities as part of a concerted effort to obstruct and undermine my possible candidacy for President,&quot; she said. </p><p>Madriaga had identified himself as an intelligence and security officer under then-President Rodrigo Duterte and said he formed Inday Sara Duterte is my President (ISIP) where he served as a national convenor in 2020.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>IMPACT ON IMPEACHMENT TRIAL?</strong></div><p>The new perjury case is not expected to have any effect on her ongoing impeachment trial, one of the vice president&#x27;s defense lawyers said.</p><p>&quot;Pagdating sa atin, we don&#x27;t see any major impact on the impeachment trial,&quot; said impeachment defense panel spokesperson Michael Poa.</p><p>&quot;Meaning, ang ibig sabihin nun, if they are to present Mr. Madriaga, we will still have to... cross-examine him in accordance with our plan,&quot; he said.</p><p>Since the complaint is still &quot;for evaluation and for preliminary investigation,&quot; there is still a chance for the prosecution to present Madriaga as a witness in the Vice President’s impeachment trial, Poa said.</p><p>&quot;So, sa atin, we will just go on with our plan. Kung i-prepresent naman sila, meron na kaming, syempre, pinlano dyan pagdating sa cross-examination,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;So, itong mga perjury complaints, hindi naman sya nakaka-apekto dito sa impeachment.&quot;</p><div><strong>-- with a report from Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="960" height="540" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eW3T2_Aitms?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>The Vice President had previously denied Madriaga’s allegations, saying she had never given Madriaga "instructions of any kind."</p>

The Vice President had previously denied Madriaga’s allegations, saying she had never given Madriaga "instructions of any kind."

Sara Duterte files fresh perjury complaint vs self-confessed ‘bagman’ Madriaga

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Sara Duterte files fresh perjury complaint vs self-confessed ‘bagman’ Madriaga

Harlene Delgado,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 17, 2026 01:09 PM PHT

|

Updated August 17, 2026 06:26 PM PHT

Read More:

Sara Duterte

Ramil Madriaga

perjury

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