‘Team Grocery’ list as impeach evidence up to Congress – Palace

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang is leaving it up to lawmakers to decide whether to use the so-called “Team Grocery” or the new list of alleged beneficiaries of Vice President Sara Duterte’s confidential funds in strengthening the case for her impeachment.

Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said the Palace is puzzled with the names in the receipts submitted by the office of Duterte, who was impeached by the House of Representatives last December over her alleged failure to properly account for her confidential funds, among other issues.

“Perhaps the Palace is not the only one puzzled. Maybe even the people are puzzled as to why the receipts submitted by the OVP (Office of the Vice President) looked that way,” Castro said at a press briefing yesterday.

“With regard to this evidence, let us leave it up to the House of Representatives and the Senate to determine whether it would be used in the impeachment trial,” she added.

House Deputy Majority Leader and La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V has been releasing lists of “unusual” names of recipients of Duterte’s confidential funds, the latest of which contained entries resembling grocery list items.

The latest list included the names “Mico Harina,” “Sala Casim,” “Beverly Claire Pampano,” “Patty Ting” and “Ralph Josh Bacon.”

Other names flagged previously by lawmakers were “Mary Grace Piattos,” “Renan Piatos,” “Pia Piatos-Lim,” “Xiaome Ocho,” “Jay Kamote,” “Miggy Mango” and five others named “Dodong.”

According to Ortega, the names, which were submitted to the Commission on Audit, have no birth, marriage or death records in the Philippine Statistics Authority’s database.

Earlier, Castro called on Duterte to explain the unusual names in the receipts.

The Vice President has denied misusing her confidential funds and asked the Supreme Court to invalidate her impeachment, describing it as “procedurally defective, constitutionally infirm and jurisdictionally void.”