VP Sara: Madriaga wants to stop my possible bid for presidency
Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday denied having any ties with her alleged former aide Ramil Madriaga, calling his exposé an attempt to undermine her possible presidential bid in the 2028 elections.
Madriaga, who said he started serving Duterte as an aide when she was still Davao City mayor, had claimed in an affidavit submitted before the Office of the Ombudsman that he delivered large amounts of money to various individuals upon her orders.
“I do not have a personal relationship with Ramil Madriaga, nor have I ever given him instructions of any kind. I have never visited him in prison, nor have I spoken to him about anything at any time,” Duterte said.
The vice president further asserted that Madriaga has presented no evidence against her, offering only allegations.
Just noise
“Bare allegations, no matter how loudly repeated, amount to nothing more than noise,” Duterte said, adding that Madriaga, with his criminal record, is now acting out of desperation to secure his release.
“He is now disseminating false statements to government authorities as part of a concerted effort to obstruct and undermine my possible candidacy for president,” she added.
Duterte also downplayed photos showing her with Madriaga, calling these “unrelated images taken during public events where I was present.”
“These images do not support his allegations and merely show that he was present as part of an election campaign group,” she said.
Duterte issued the statement after one of Madriaga’s lawyers said she made two visits to his detention cell at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.
Madriaga is facing kidnapping charges before Branch 21 of the Manila Regional Trial Court. His lawyer, Raymund Palad, claimed that during her first visit, Duterte asked Madriaga not to push through with his exposé and also offered her help in having the case against him dismissed.
Motive doubted
Although Madriaga welcomed the vice president the first time, he began to question her motives upon her second visit on Oct. 19. This was after Duterte’s staff supposedly went to Camp Bagong Diwa to collect information about the family members of detainees. However, they confined their data gathering only to BJMP Annex 2 in Taguig City, where Madriaga was detained, making him doubt their intentions.
In an affidavit and letter submitted to Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla on Dec. 16, Madriaga asked him to initiate an investigation against Duterte, saying he was tapped to work for her in 2018 when she was Davao City mayor.
He said he was introduced to her by her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, whom he served under the National Security Council and Presidential Security Group.
According to Madriaga’s affidavit, he formed the movement, “Inday Sara Duterte Is My President,” with her former classmates at the San Sebastian College of Law in 2020 in preparation for the 2022 presidential elections. He alleged that it was funded by Philippine offshore gaming operators and drug dealers.
When Sara Duterte was elected vice president, Madriaga said he was directed to form the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group.
From July 2022 to April 2023, his tasks included securing her, relaying confidential information, and transporting large sums of money on her instructions.
He said that in December 2022, he delivered a duffel bag filled with money to a representative of a Laguna mayor and to a comedy bar in Quezon City frequented by San Sebastian College of Law alumni. He added that he also left a duffel bag inside a car, which he parked and left inside the Ombudsman compound in Quezon City. Each bag, Madriaga claimed, contained P33 million to P35 million.
