Prosecutors plan to present a ‘fictitious agent’ as a witness at the impeachment trial

A “fictitious agent”, one of the recipients of the Vice President’s confidential funds, would be presented as a witness in Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, which will start next month.

House lead prosecutor, Batangas Representative Gerville Luistro, during a House Committee on Justice hearing on impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last February 4, 2026. Photo from House of Representatives.

Manuel Mogato | June 27, 2026

MANILA — A “fictitious agent”, one of the recipients of the Vice President’s confidential funds, would be presented as a witness in Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, which will start next month.

Members of the House of Representatives, acting as prosecutors in the impeachment trial, planned to call “Mary Grace Piattos” as one of 57 witnesses in the trial, which will start on July 6.

The prosecutors did not say how they located the witness, even though the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that it had no data on the existence of “Mary Grace Piattos”.

Manila Congressman Joel Chua said they asked the impeachment court to issue a subpoena for “Mary Grace Piattos” at the Office of the Vice President, who listed the agent as among the recipients of the confidential and intelligence funds. (Also read: Where Do We Go From Here, Philippines?)

There were no records of “Mary Grace Piattos’s” birth, death, or marriage in the civil registry.

The late congressman Romeo Acop had said “Mary Grace Piattos” appeared to be non-existent, and it was created by using a restaurant’s name and snack.

Based on the Office of the Vice President records, “Mary Grace Piattos” received portions of the millions of pesos in confidential and intelligence funds in 2022 and 2023.

Her name also appeared in the Department of Education’s confidential and intelligence funds in 2023.

Duterte served as education secretary from 2022 to 2024. She resigned from the Cabinet after her alliance with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s ended.

Prosecutors said they found probable cause that Duterte misused the confidential and intelligence funds.

Based on its investigation, prosecutors said Duterte spent 125 million pesos in only 11 days in December 2022.

But a witness, Ramil Madriaga, who said he had served as Duterte’s security agent, told a congressional inquiry he had delivered the 125 million pesos in less than 24 hours. Three people received the money in Laguna and Quezon City.

The misuse of funds was one of four Articles of Impeachment submitted to the Senate impeachment court.

She also faced accusations of amassing ill-gotten wealth, bribery, and threatening to assassinate the president and his cousin, former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

A former court sheriff in Davao City, who was mauled by Duterte when she was mayor, will also be presented as a witness to establish the vice president’s pattern of violent behavior.

The prosecutors said it needed 60 days to prove Duterte’s guilt. On the other hand, the defense said it only needed 30 days to prove her innocence.

The senators acting as judges will decide on the vice president’s guilt in the trial. They could convict or acquit her. (Also read: Self-Serving Criminal Behavior by Senators and the Undermining of a Republic)

Sixteen votes are needed to convict Duterte and disqualify her from holding any public office, preventing her from seeking the presidency in 2028.

Prosecutors are confident Duterte will be convicted based on the evidence to be presented despite the lack of a number of senators to convict her.

Duterte has nine allies in the Senate but she could be convicted and removed from office if three senators switched sides.