Witness claims he’s not just Sara ‘bagman’ but also Rody bank ‘dummy’
He allegedly served both as a banking “dummy” for the father and a “bagman” for the daughter.
Appearing as a key witness in the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte, Ramil Madriaga said her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, also used him as a conduit for moving millions of pesos in the banking system during his presidency.
Madriaga volunteered to have at least six bank accounts in his name opened for scrutiny by the House committee on justice.
The panel on Tuesday conducted the second of four scheduled hearings to determine probable cause in the impeachment complaints against the Vice President.
Currently on trial for kidnapping, Madriaga was allowed by a Manila court to face the House panel for a few hours and testify about his alleged ties to the Dutertes. Before the end of Tuesday’s hearing, he signed a waiver allowing access to the bank accounts.
In a supplemental affidavit he read before the panel, Madriaga said “close associates” of the former President opened bank accounts under his name.
“These were opened by people close to PRRD (President Rodrigo Roa Duterte), who informed me that money will be transferred to these accounts for intelligence operation and for laundering,” Madriaga told lawmakers.
He listed six bank accounts in the affidavit, but said there could be more that he may not be aware of:
• Chinabank branch at Legaspi Village, Makati City
• Chinabank Main, also in Makati
• Chinabank branch near the fire station on Ayala Avenue, Makati
• PNB Makati Metropolitian Avenue branch
• An unidentified bank in Pasig City
• An unidentified bank in Lubao, Pampanga
“However, I have never personally opened these accounts or appeared before the said banks to process any application in relation thereto,” he said.
‘Services’
Madriaga said he earned around P100,000 to P150,000 for the “services” he rendered to the elder Duterte.
“I distinctly remember that PRRD directed me on three separate occasions to pick up P100 million from a bank inside a mall in Lubao, Pampanga, which were all delivered to Malacañang,” he said.
“On another incident, I was informed by PRRD that the two Landbank managers’ checks, which were to be delivered to one of our safe houses in Eastwood, Quezon City, in the amounts of P84.2 million and P4.8 million, respectively were issued under my name,” he added.
There were times when the ex-president called him to confirm the “withdrawal or encashment of checks” from the accounts registered in his name.
“There were also instances where PRRD would instruct me to personally visit the said banks to pick up the money and bring it to Malacañang or to designated individuals,” he said.
He recalled being instructed to sign an “entire checkbook” for encashment, and that he obeyed without question since he had “complete trust in PRRD and his close allies.”
To show he’s ‘trusted guy’
Madriaga was called by the House committee mainly to testify on the first affidavit he submitted to the Ombudsman in December 2025 about his connection to the Vice President, particularly the cash deliveries he allegedly made upon her instructions.
His revelations about the bank accounts and his services to the elder Duterte were not part of his expected testimony in support of the impeachment complaints against the Vice President over her alleged misuse of her confidential funds.
Plot vs Trillanes
But according to his lawyer Raymund Palad, Madriaga included those details because “he just wanted to show that he was a trusted guy of the former president.”
“Precisely, he wants to prove that he became a bagman, to prove his closeness and relationship,” Palad told the Inquirer in an interview. “That’s one way of establishing credibility and connection to the Duterte family.”
Also in his affidavit, Madriaga claimed being privy to the former President’s political plans, including a plot against one of his arch-critics, former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.
The elder Duterte, he said, ordered “sabotage operations” to be carried out against Trillanes but remained “apprehensive” about having the ex-senator killed because of his ties to the military.
Before entering politics, Trillanes served in the Navy and was one of the junior military junior officers behind a failed mutiny during the Arroyo administration. —WITH A REPORT FROM JOHN ERIC MENDOZA
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