Latest news with #OVP
GMA Network
3 days ago
- Politics
- GMA Network
Sara Duterte's confi fund recipients have surnames of senators —Ortega
The recipients of the P500 million worth of confidential funds of the office of Vice President Sara Duterte in 2023 included people bearing surnames similar to the incumbent senators, House Deputy Majority Leader and La Union Representative Paolo Ortega V said Thursday. Ortega said based on the acknowledgement receipts submitted by the OVP to the Commission on Audit on the disbursement of confidential funds, the recipients include Beth Revilla, Janice Marie Revilla, Diane Maple Lapid, John Lapid Jr., Clarisse Hontiveros, Kristine Applegate Estrada, and Denise Tanya Escudero. Incumbent senators include Bong Revilla, Jr., Lito Lapid, Risa Hontiveros, Jinggoy Estrada, and Senate President Francis Escudero. 'These irregularities are too glaring to ignore—these names from the supposed Budol Gang call for a deeper look. Hanggang Senado po, hindi na pinalampas," Ortega said in a statement. Aside from the people with surnames similar to senators, the OVP submissions of confidential fund recipients also included Cannor Adrian Contis which is similar to a cake shop and restaurant. "Kapag ba may confidential funds ang opisina mo, may sweet tooth ka din? When these suspicious names turned out to be fixtures, this is not just a simple malfeasance. It is well-coordinated and well-planned siphoning of public funds," Ortega said. (If your office is a recipient of confidential funds, does that mean you should have a sweet tooth?) 'Hindi nakakatawa ang paulit-ulit na paggamit ng mga pekeng pangalan na parang hinugot mula sa sine at showbiz (The repeated use of fictitious names from the movies and showbiz is not funny). We are talking about public funds here. If they cannot show evidence that these people exist, then these are strong evidence against them in the impeachment trial," Ortega added. Ortega said the recipients of confidential funds bearing surnames of senators are among the over 1,300 names who did not have birth, marriage, or death records from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Other earlier names disclosed by Ortega were from 'Team Grocery" such as Beverly Claire Pampano, Mico Harina, Ralph Josh Bacon, Patty Ting and Sala Casim, as well as Mary Grace Piattos and Xiaome Ocho which are similar to popular junk food, bake shop, and mobile phone brand. The Joint Circular 2015-01 governing the use of confidential and intelligence funds require agencies to maintain sealed and verifiable documentation linking aliases to real identities. The Senate is scheduled to convene as an impeachment court on June 2. Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives on February 5, with over 200 congressmen endorsing the complaint against her. She was accused of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, and other high crimes mainly over alleged misuse of around P612.5 million worth of confidential funds and threatening to kill President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and the President's cousin and Speaker, Leyte First District Rep. Martin Romualdez. The Vice President, for her part, said she is looking forward to her impeachment trial in the upcoming 20th Congress because she 'wants a bloodbath." Under the Constitution, House impeachment prosecutors would need 16 votes or two-thirds of the 24-strong Senate to secure conviction. GMA News Online has reached out to the camp of the Vice President for comment and will publish it as soon as it is available. —AOL, GMA Integrated News
Filipino Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Filipino Times
Chel Diokno, Marian Rivera names flagged in OVP fund receipts
House lawmakers have raised concerns after the names of lawyer Chel Diokno and actress Marian Rivera appeared in documents tied to the Office of the Vice President's (OVP) controversial confidential fund spending. House Assistant Majority Leader Zia Alonto Adiong questioned the authenticity of names listed in the acknowledgment receipts submitted by the OVP to the Commission on Audit (COA). 'There is a 'Chel Diokno,' and that exists as an informant, intelligence informant, possible intelligence informant who really received acknowledgement receipts or payment,' Adiong said. As for Marian Rivera, Adiong said, 'It is possible that there is a Marian Rivera. I mean, with due respect to the veteran actress, Marian is a common name. And even the last name, the family name Rivera, is a very common Filipino surname.' The issue first drew attention when receipts contained names like 'Mary Grace Piattos' and 'Jay Kamote,' later followed by 'Miggy Mango' and multiple versions of 'Dodong,' which PSA confirmed had no matching records in their database. Adiong emphasized that while some of the names may be real, others might be aliases. He said the documents reviewed by the House showed inconsistencies and irregularities. Some of the receipts containing these names were reportedly not shown during earlier hearings of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability. Adiong said the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) should verify the identities listed, citing the agencies' authority and expertise in validating public records.
Daily Maverick
5 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Austrian court quashes ex-chancellor Kurz's perjury conviction
An Austrian appeals court said on Monday that it had overturned conservative former chancellor Sebastian Kurz's recent perjury conviction and the resulting eight-month suspended prison sentence. The ruling removes Kurz's only criminal conviction, taking away a serious obstacle to a future political comeback for the 38-year-old, although prosecutors have yet to decide whether to charge him over potential corruption-related offences in a separate investigation that forced him from office in 2021. The court said Kurz 'was acquitted because the objective offence of giving false evidence was not fulfilled'. Kurz denies all wrongdoing. 'I have been confronted with accusations for years. There have been numerous court hearings – a huge amount of confrontation with these accusations. You have all witnessed how much this has been celebrated and that it has now all collapsed,' he said outside the court. The case centred on whether Kurz was merely kept informed of deliberations on the appointment of executives for newly created state holding company OBAG when he was chancellor, or was in fact making the decisions. The appointments were formally his finance minister's responsibility. Kurz testified to a parliamentary commission of inquiry in 2020 that he was 'involved in the sense of informed'. The judge who heard the case at first instance ruled that was not true and Kurz played an active role. 'What has come out is what I have always said, namely that I did not tell any untruths in the committee of inquiry,' Kurz said. Kurz has left the Austrian People's Party (OVP) and quit politics but some individuals within the OVP hope he will return if there is a change of party leadership, even though polling suggests the majority of Austrians do not want him to stage a comeback. Kurz led his party to election victories in 2017 and 2019 by adopting a hard line on immigration similar to that of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), which won the last parliamentary election in September. He now works as a consultant and tech entrepreneur and says he is happy in his new career. Having come second in the last election, the OVP leads the current three-party centrist coalition government headed by OVP Chancellor Christian Stocker.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Austrian court quashes ex-chancellor Kurz's perjury conviction
VIENNA (Reuters) -An Austrian appeals court said on Monday that it had overturned conservative former chancellor Sebastian Kurz's recent perjury conviction and the resulting eight-month suspended prison sentence. The ruling removes Kurz's only criminal conviction, taking away a serious obstacle to a future political comeback for the 38-year-old, although prosecutors have yet to decide whether to charge him over potential corruption-related offences in a separate investigation that forced him from office in 2021. The court said Kurz "was acquitted because the objective offence of giving false evidence was not fulfilled". Kurz denies all wrongdoing. "I have been confronted with accusations for years. There have been numerous court hearings - a huge amount of confrontation with these accusations. You have all witnessed how much this has been celebrated and that it has now all collapsed," he said outside the court. The case centred on whether Kurz was merely kept informed of deliberations on the appointment of executives for newly created state holding company OBAG when he was chancellor, or was in fact making the decisions. The appointments were formally his finance minister's responsibility. Kurz testified to a parliamentary commission of inquiry in 2020 that he was "involved in the sense of informed". The judge who heard the case at first instance ruled that was not true and Kurz played an active role. "What has come out is what I have always said, namely that I did not tell any untruths in the committee of inquiry," Kurz said. Kurz has left the Austrian People's Party (OVP) and quit politics but some individuals within the OVP hope he will return if there is a change of party leadership, even though polling suggests the majority of Austrians do not want him to stage a comeback. Kurz led his party to election victories in 2017 and 2019 by adopting a hard line on immigration similar to that of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), which won the last parliamentary election in September. He now works as a consultant and tech entrepreneur and says he is happy in his new career. Having come second in the last election, the OVP leads the current three-party centrist coalition government headed by OVP Chancellor Christian Stocker.
Straits Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Austrian court quashes ex-chancellor Kurz's perjury conviction
Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz arrives at the court room before a court hears Kurz's appeal against perjury conviction in Vienna, Austria, May 26, 2025. REUTERS/Lisa Leutner Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz arrives at the court room before a court hears Kurz's appeal against perjury conviction in Vienna, Austria, May 26, 2025. REUTERS/Lisa Leutner Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz arrives at court and gives a press statement before a court hears Kurz's appeal against perjury conviction in Vienna, Austria, May 26, 2025. REUTERS/Lisa Leutner Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz walks on his way to the court room before a court hears Kurz's appeal against perjury conviction in Vienna, Austria, May 26, 2025. REUTERS/Lisa Leutner Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz walks after the verdict where the court heard Kurz's appeal against perjury conviction in Vienna, Austria, May 26, 2025. REUTERS/Lisa Leutner VIENNA - An Austrian appeals court has overturned conservative former chancellor Sebastian Kurz's recent perjury conviction and the resulting eight-month suspended prison sentence, news agency APA reported on Monday. The ruling removes Kurz's only criminal conviction, taking away a serious obstacle to a future political comeback for the 38-year-old, although prosecutors have yet to decide whether to charge him over potential corruption-related offences in a separate investigation that forced him from office in 2021. The court was not immediately available for comment. Kurz denies all wrongdoing. "I have been confronted with accusations for years. There have been numerous court hearings - a huge amount of confrontation with these accusations. You have all witnessed how much this has been celebrated and that it has now all collapsed," he said outside the court. The case centred on whether Kurz was merely kept informed of deliberations on the appointment of executives for newly created state holding company OBAG when he was chancellor, or was in fact making the decisions. The appointments were formally his finance minister's responsibility. Kurz testified to a parliamentary commission of inquiry in 2020 that he was "involved in the sense of informed". The judge who heard the case at first instance ruled that was not true and Kurz played an active role. "What has come out is what I have always said, namely that I did not tell any untruths in the committee of inquiry," Kurz said. Kurz has left the Austrian People's Party (OVP) and quit politics but some individuals within the OVP hope he will return if there is a change of party leadership, even though polling suggests the majority of Austrians do not want him to stage a comeback. Kurz led his party to election victories in 2017 and 2019 by adopting a hard line on immigration similar to that of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), which won the last parliamentary election in September. He now works as a consultant and tech entrepreneur and says he is happy in his new career. Having come second in the last election, the OVP leads the current three-party centrist coalition government headed by OVP Chancellor Christian Stocker. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
