VICE President Sara Duterte on Tuesday accused the Marcos administration of being behind dismissed police officer Rodulfo Gracioso Jr.’s allegations that he delivered over P2 billion in kickbacks to her from 2018 to 2022, claiming that he was paid to fabricate a case against her.
Duterte made the accusation during a press briefing in Davao City to deny Gracioso’s allegations.
Asked who was behind the latest accusations, she pointed to the Palace.
“[The] administration. Who is behind the campaign to destroy me? The administration. The Palace, BBM,” Duterte said.
She pointed to statements from the Office of the President and her ongoing impeachment trial, which she described as a coordinated effort against her.
Duterte also accused the administration’s communications machinery of shifting corruption allegations involving President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. toward her.
“If you look at what the administration’s communications team is doing, every taint of corruption that BBM should answer for, they smear onto me,” she said.
Duterte also pointed to allegations that Marcos received a suitcase, citing testimony from former lawmaker Zaldy Co, and said the issue had yet to be answered. She claimed the administration was trying to deflect the issue by having similar allegations made against her.
She also alleged that Gracioso was motivated by money.
Duterte said she wanted the National Bureau of Investigation to investigate the allegations and determine whether Gracioso should face charges if portions of his affidavit were proven false.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said Duterte should stop pointing fingers and answer the charges against her.
In a statement on Tuesday, Castro said Duterte’s problems would not have reached an impeachment court if she had sufficient evidence to back her claims.
“That’s what happens when you can no longer present evidence — you’ll only point fingers,” Castro said in Filipino.
“Because if she has clear evidence that she did not commit any crime, maybe we will not be able to reach the impeachment court,” she added.
Duterte on Tuesday denied allegations made by Gracioso, saying she will submit her affidavit to the National Bureau of Investigation on Thursday.
“I strongly deny the statements of Gracioso Jr. in his sworn affidavit and media interviews linking me to events that I did not do, did not know about, or did not personally experience,” Duterte said.
Duterte said she would answer Gracioso’s allegations but deliberately withheld some of her evidence, saying she did not want him and what she called his “scriptwriters” to adjust their account based on information in her records.
Among the most specific allegations Duterte addressed was Gracioso’s claim that he picked her up at a private hangar in Pasay, gave her Royce chocolates and a suitcase, and brought her to the Diamond Hotel or Shangri-La.
Duterte said that did not happen and pointed to Presidential Security Group protocols governing her movements from July 2016 to June 2022. She said the PSG alone provided security for her during that period, with air travel arranged through the Kalayaan Lounge or airport terminal, while noncommercial flights would be recorded by the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing.
She denied owning the white Ford Savannah van that Gracioso allegedly used to transport her, and said hotel records could establish that she did not stay at the Diamond Hotel.
She also denied receiving an Escalade, a Grandia van or money from former speaker Lord Allan Velasco and his wife, Rowena, during the 2019 Hugpong ng Pagbabago campaign.
Duterte acknowledged that Wen had asked her to include Lord in the HNP caravan because he wanted to meet congressmen while the group toured the country. But she said local candidates hosting the rallies covered their expenses, rather than Lord and Wen.
She also disputed Gracioso’s claim that she went to Marinduque during Holy Week in 2019, laying out a series of locations she said placed her in Mindanao throughout the period.
Duterte said she was in Davao City for her mother’s birthday on April 14, attended HNP rallies in Mati, Tagum, Digos, Koronadal and Tacurong from April 15 to 17, stayed at Island Buena Vista in Davao del Norte from April 18 to 20, and attended an Easter event in Davao City on April 21.
Another allegation she directly disputed involved an alleged March 1, 2021 delivery of two Grandia vans carrying suitcases and boxes of cash.
Duterte said her youngest child’s birthday was held at their home the following day, March 2, during the pandemic and was attended only by family, with only three non-family guests. She said neither Velasco nor Gracioso was present and questioned whether a photograph presented by Gracioso to the media was authentic, adding that the location shown was not their house.
She also rejected Gracioso’s account of a motorcycle-riding course allegedly financed by Ramil Madriaga, which she said was tied to an alleged P40 million fund.
Duterte said she had completed a motorcycle-riding course under the PNP Highway Patrol Group in the 1990s and that the Yamaha XSR 900 she used during the 2019 HNP caravan was hers. She said she acquired the motorcycle on Dec. 29, 2017 and fully paid for it on Feb. 2, 2018, before the caravan began.
She disputed Gracioso’s account of events on Sept. 21, 2019, saying she was in Davao City for a government services caravan and later attended a birthday celebration there. She said she did not attend the baptism of the child of the Velascos in Manila the following day, as Gracioso said.
Duterte also sought to distance herself from Gracioso’s characterization of her relationship with Jeffrey Tupas, whom Gracioso allegedly implicated in his account. She said Tupas was an information officer and later headed the OVP’s media and public relations division, but was never her personal staff, assistant or confidant.
Duterte said she had reviewed schedules, photographs, videos and other records in preparing her response after she said Gracioso’s name was new to her.
She said those records, including travel and event documentation, would allow her to challenge allegations involving specific dates and locations rather than simply deny them.
She said she will submit her affidavit to the NBI on Thursday.
