VICE President Sara Duterte filed perjury charges against self-confessed security consultant and bagman Ramil Madriaga on Wednesday. She filed the case at the Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office accompanied by her lawyer, Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr. In a statement, Duterte said that Madriaga is an “accused individual in a kidnapping case who posed as a campaign supporter and, from there, suddenly emerged as a supposed witness in the impeachment against me.” She said Madriaga is being used in the same way the International Criminal Court used “fabricated” testimonies from Arturo Lascañas and Edgar Matobato, which were used against her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte. “Because of this, today I have filed a perjury case against Ramil Madriaga to finally hold him accountable for his lies. We cannot allow invented stories to be used to deceive the public,” Duterte said. Madriaga claimed that he was a supporter of Duterte who received campaign funds from Philippine offshore gaming operations and drug money, as well as confidential funds from two former Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group leaders. In an earlier statement, Duterte said that Madriaga’s revelations were part of efforts to derail her 2028 presidential bid, which she announced last month. “I have never visited him in prison, nor have I spoken to him about anything at any time,” Duterte said. She also said that the photographs he submitted as proof are “unrelated images taken during public events where I was present.” “These images do not support his allegations and merely show that he was present as part of an election campaign group,” she said. She also said Madriaga appears to be acting “out of desperation to secure his release from detention.”