Martires: Why would Du30 use a ‘nonentity’ to send me money?
Former President Rodrigo Duterte would have personally given him money, instead of coursing it through a “nonentity” like confessed “bagman” Ramil Madriaga, former Ombudsman Samuel Martires said on Wednesday.
“If the public’s perception that I am close to former President Rodrigo Duterte is true, then why would the former president send me money through a nonentity when FPRRD (former President Duterte’s initials) can easily summon me so he can give me money?” he said in a statement late Tuesday.
Martires was refuting claims by Madriaga, who testified at the House impeachment proceedings on Tuesday that he delivered cash to the then Ombudsman on the directive of either the elder Duterte or his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte.
Madriaga claimed to be the Vice President’s bagman during the years she concurrently served as Department of Education secretary.
Appearing as a witness before the House justice committee’s hearing on the impeachment complaints against the Vice President, Madriaga claimed that he delivered P125 million in cash drawn from her confidential funds to various locations on Dec. 20, 2022, including the Office of the Ombudsman.
‘Usual practice’
He said that he left two duffel bags of money inside a red Mazda sedan parked at a “specific area” in the Ombudsman parking lot, leaving the keys atop the left front wheel as was the “usual practice” in the delivery of huge sums of money.
“Previously and upon direct instructions of PRRD (President Rodrigo Roa Duterte) or Sara, I have also delivered money to Ombudsman Samuel Martires or Atty. Ryan (Assistant Special Prosecutor Ryan Quilala), which I usually placed inside an open trunk of a designated car,” he said.
Quoting his sworn affidavit, he said that he delivered P15 million to Quilala on the latter’s request.
Madriaga testified that he delivered the P125 million in less than 24 hours. At the House deliberations on the 2024 budget, state auditors disclosed that the Office of the Vice President spent the amount in 11 days.
Madriaga, who is currently detained for a kidnapping case, was allowed by the court to appear as a witness in the impeachment complaints against the Vice President, which include allegations of misuse of confidential funds, bribery of public officials, threats against President Marcos, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and then Speaker Martin Romualdez, and other culpable violations of the Constitution.
‘Insignificant person’
Martires, who served during the Duterte administration, also said that the Vice President does not know him personally and wondered why the younger Duterte would send him money “through an insignificant person.”
“What business does the VP have with me to be sent an amount of money?” Martires said.
