PSA confirms no birth record for 'Mary Grace Piattos'

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) confirmed on Tuesday that there is no birth record for a person named Mary Grace Piattos, who was allegedly listed as a recipient of confidential funds from Vice President Sara Duterte's office.

In a certification issued November 25 but released only on Tuesday, December 3, the PSA attested to negative records of birth, marriage, and death in their civil registry database for 'Mary Grace Piattos'.

Lawmakers expressed serious implications over the non-existence of Mary Grace Piattos, raising concerns about potential fraud in documents submitted by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to the Commission on Audit.

Representative Joel Chua offered a bounty of P1 million for information leading to the identification of Mary Grace Piattos, while other lawmakers suggested that 'Mary Grace Piattos' is a fictitious person or combination of popular brand names.

The House committee on good government and public accountability uncovered around 158 acknowledgment receipts with apparent forged signatures, indicating possible fabrication in liquidation reports covering P23.8 million confidential funds.