MANILA, Philippines — Senator-judge Vicente Sotto III on Tuesday clarified the distinction between an alias and a fictitious name during the 20th day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Citing Republic Act 6085, which regulates the use of aliases, Sotto said that a name may be considered an alias if there is an actual person behind it.
"Just for the record, for the public and for us, the general rule that she mentioned is Republic Act 6085, regulating the use of aliases, which only allowed in the Philippines only for pseudonyms solely for literary, cinema, television and other entertainment purposes," Sotto said in his manifestation.
"Therefore, if there is a person behind the alias, then it is an alias. If there is no person behind the name, it is a fictitious name or a fake name," he added.
He made the clarification after the prosecution panel of the House of Representatives presented acknowledgment receipts covering the disbursement of Duterte’s confidential funds, which had suspicious-sounding names, such as “Mary Grace Piattos,” “Andy Lim,” “Antonio Pagong,” “Timon Andrew Pusa,” “Don Piang,” “May Pamana,” “Shane Ngitngit” and “Xuniso P. Belat.”
Sotto said his remarks were intended to put the distinction on record for both the public and the impeachment court.
Sen. Francis Escudero, the Senate impeachment court’s presiding officer, acknowledged Sotto's manifestation.