THE Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office has dismissed the perjury complaint filed by Vice President Sara Duterte against Ramil Madriaga, who claimed to be her former aide.
In a resolution dated Thursday, September 10, the prosecutor said the complaint should be dismissed for insufficiency of evidence.
“While complainant has presented evidence disputing respondent’s assertions, the evidence presently on record does not establish prima facie, with reasonable certainty of conviction, that respondent knowingly and willfully made materially false statements under oath in violation of Article 183 of the Revised Penal Code,” the resolution read.
In a statement Friday, September 11, Duterte’s spokesperson, lawyer Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr., called the prosecutor’s decision “political.”
Panelo said had the evidence been properly weighed, the prosecutor would not have reached such a decision.
“This is clear from the Resolution itself, which repeatedly conceded that the Vice President’s evidence raised serious doubts on Madriaga’s credibility and narratives, but evaded the only logical conclusion — that he deliberately and maliciously lied under oath,” he said.
“We understood the political realities from the outset, and publicly warned of this possibility. The perjury complaint had to be filed with OCP Taguig, which is under the Department of Justice, which is headed by the Secretary of Justice, who is a member of the President’s Cabinet,” Panelo added.
Panelo said the first complaint was supported by more than 300 pages of documents, including Duterte’s sworn testimony, statements from seven corroborating witnesses, official documents and certifications, and contemporaneous records.
He said the second complaint, filed in August, consisted of 750 pages of sworn testimonies from Duterte and corroborating witnesses, as well as government and other public records and official documents.
“These left no room for a good-faith finding that the complaint merely revealed ‘competing factual narratives,’ as the Resolution would have us believe,” Panelo said.
“If a complaint of that strength can be discarded, then the message is simple: a man may brazenly lie under oath against the Vice President, and this administration will protect the lie if it is politically useful,” he added.
Duterte filed her first perjury complaint against Madriaga in March after he submitted an affidavit to the Office of the Ombudsman making various allegations against the Vice President and her family.
Madriaga, who identified himself as Duterte’s former aide, later alleged during the House impeachment proceedings that he was instructed to deliver P125 million in confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President in less than 24 hours.
In an affidavit, he also alleged that Duterte’s husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, was linked to the 2018 shipment of magnetic lifters that authorities said contained billions of pesos worth of illegal drugs.
Madriaga further claimed that he served as a conduit for millions of pesos in bank transactions involving people close to former President Rodrigo Duterte, including funds he said were intended for “intelligence operations” and money laundering.
He also alleged that Pharmally Pharmaceuticals and former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang helped fund Duterte’s 2022 campaign.
Madriaga likewise linked the Dutertes to an alleged plot to unseat or kill President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Duterte filed her second perjury complaint against Madriaga on August 17, accusing him of making false statements in a supplemental affidavit. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)