A MAN claiming to be a former “bagman” for Vice President Sara Duterte has alleged that her 2021–2022 campaign was bankrolled by funds from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) and drug syndicates.
Ramil Lagunoy Madriaga said he organized the group Inday Sara Duterte Is My President (ISIP) in 2020 along with Duterte’s classmates from San Sebastian College of Law, following what he described as instructions from the then Davao City mayor.
“The funding for the ISIP Pilipinas national campaign (2021–2022), along with other parallel groups, came from POGO operators and drug dealers,” he claimed.
Madriaga said he regularly picked up “cash-filled bags” from locations including The Gate in Pampanga, Vertis North Mall and Seda Hotel in Quezon City, and the Grand Hyatt in Bonifacio Global City. He also said ISIP Pilipinas was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, where he served as national convenor.
After Duterte won the vice presidency, Madriaga claimed he was tasked to help form the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG). He said he recommended Col. Dennis Nolasco, then Commandant of the PSG Training School, who later brought in Col. Raymund Dante Lachica to head the group.
From July 2022 to April 2023, Madriaga said he worked with Nolasco and Lachica on tasks that allegedly included moving large amounts of cash to various individuals at Duterte’s instruction.
He recounted delivering a duffle bag “puno ng pera” to a comedy bar frequented by SSC-Law alumni, where he saw Office of the Vice President spokesperson Reynold Munsayac. He said Munsayac signaled for him to leave the money in an upstairs office.
Madriaga also described dropping off another cash-filled duffle bag at the Ombudsman parking compound, leaving a vehicle key “sa ibabaw ng kaliwang gulong,” and witnessing another person retrieve the car.
In a separate instance, he said Nolasco handed him a white Toyota Vios containing about P80 million that he was told to leave in the SM Megamall parking lot under similar procedures.
He detailed additional pickups and deliveries involving a Super Grandia in 2020 and two different Honda Civic units allegedly containing cash in early 2022, which he claimed were dropped off at a residence in Jordan Plains, Novaliches, Quezon City.
As of this posting, the Office of the Vice President and the individuals named in the affidavit have yet to issue statements on the allegations.
