Lawyer: VP Sara twice tried to stop aide’s testimony
Vice President Sara Duterte made at least two visits to her detained former aide, Ramil Madriaga, and even offered to “fix” his kidnapping case at a court in Manila in what appeared to be an attempt to stop him from exposing her and her supposed dealings, his lawyer bared on Thursday.
Madriaga, who is detained on a kidnapping case at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, said he could not recall the date of the first visit.
But Madriaga’s lawyer, Raymund Palad, said he was certain that the second visit was made on Oct. 19 of this year, a day before Palad himself visited his client at Camp Bagong Diwa, where Madriaga has been detained over the abduction of two Chinese nationals in 2022.
The visits were meant to dissuade Madriaga from revealing his role in gathering intelligence and delivering large amounts of cash when the Vice President was still Davao City mayor.
Madriaga said in an affidavit, notarized by lawyer Cynthia Viñas-Pantonal, that he was tapped to work for Duterte in 2018. He was introduced to her by her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte. He worked for the National Security Council and Presidential Security Group during the Duterte administration.
He claimed in the sworn statement that he was involved in the collection and delivery of large amounts upon Sara Duterte’s orders, but he changed his mind when he learned that some unidentified people were gathering information about his family.
First visit
In the first visit, Sara Duterte allegedly offered to have his case dismissed by arranging it with a judge if Madriaga would not to not push through with his exposé.
During the second visit, however, Madriaga said visitors, composed of staff members of the Vice President, went to Camp Bagong Diwa collecting information about the detainees’ family members, but only in the BJMP Annex 2 in Taguig City, where Madriaga is detained.
Palad said there were other annexes in the detention center and Madriaga wondered why the collection of certain information from detainees was only done in Annex 2.
Palad said CCTV footage inside the jail can confirm the visits made by the Vice President and her staff members, although he could not provide pieces of evidence that would confirm Sara Duterte’s visit.
Madriaga’s lawyers have transmitted a letter addressed to Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla earlier this week, asking to form a fact-finding investigation that would look into their client’s allegations and his claims about the delivery of money from drug lords and Philippine offshore gaming operators.
