Madriaga claims Pharmally boss funded Sara Duterte’s 2022 campaign

MANILA, Philippines – Ramil Madriaga, the alleged former bagman of Vice President Sara Duterte, said at a House justice panel hearing on Tuesday, April 14, that he received funding from a Pharmally boss to support her 2022 election campaign.

Madriaga said that in 2021, then-president Rodrigo Duterte told him that P175 million would be used to fund the activities of their group, ISIP, which was internally known as an acronym for “Inday Sara Is My President.”

He alleged that Pharmally financial officer Lin Weixiong was present when he received the amount at the basement parking of a hotel in Quezon City.

Aside from campaign expenses, Madriaga alleged that he personally delivered P15 million of the total amount to Ryan Rey Quilala, then an assistant special prosecutor at the Office of the Ombudsman, which was then led by Samuel Martires.

Madriaga narrated that when initial funding ran out, Mr. Duterte allegedly told him to get an additional P100 million from a certain “Maestrado Lim” in Taguig.

Madriaga was apparently referring to Tony Yang, the brother of Micahel Yang. Tony Yang used the Filipino name Antonio Maestrado Lim.

Tony Yang also admitted to producing a fake birth certificate bearing that name to incorporate several Cagayan de Oro-based companies, which were investigated by authorities for their links to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) and drug-related suspicions.

Madriaga also said that Michael Yang also funded ISIP’s operations.

Pharmally is the undercapitalized firm that bagged billions of pesos in COVID-19 pandemic contracts from the government during the Duterte administration.

Watch a portion of Madriaga’s testimony here. – with reports from Lian Buan/Rappler.com