During the 19th day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, Senator-Judge Robin Padilla defended the unusual names appearing in documents tied to the Office of the Vice President’s confidential funds, claiming that figures before, too, have used aliases.
Padilla pointed to historical personalities who used aliases, including Jose Rizal (Dimasalang), Andres Bonifacio (Maypagasa), Emilio Aguinaldo (Magdalo), and former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., arguing that the use of assumed names is not without precedent in Philippine history.
He asked prosecution counsel Atty. Mae Divinagracia why such names should be treated differently when used in confidential operations.
Under Commonwealth Act No. 142, or the Anti-Alias Law, as amended by Republic Act No. 6085, a person generally cannot use a name different from the one registered at birth or used at baptism.
Exceptions include pseudonyms used solely for literary, cinema, television, radio, entertainment, or athletic purposes, as well as aliases authorized by a competent court. The law also requires a person who has been granted judicial authority to use an alias to state their real name and all authorized aliases when signing or executing documents.
Divinagracia raised during the trial that if an alias is used, the person’s real identity must still be properly disclosed when required by law.
However, Padilla invoked the past, citing Ninoy Aquino’s use of “Marcial Bonifacio” to show that Filipinos have long used aliases, particularly
Senator-Judge Bam Aquino pushed back on the comparison. While Ninoy did use “Marcial Bonifacio” as an alias, Bam stressed that his uncle did not handle confidential funds, and the name does not appear on the OVP’s acknowledgment receipts.
