PCSO PROBE: LACSON PRESENTS MATERIAL VS GMA / GMA: TALK TO MY LAWYERS
PHOTO - WHO FUNDED THESE? Senator Panfilo Lacson presents copies of campaign materials supporting former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo during the fifth public hearing conducted by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on alleged questionable use of funds by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office during the Arroyo administration. (Photo by BOB DUNGO JR.)]
MANILA, JULY 19, 2011 (BULLETIN) The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee asked Monday the Commission on Audit (CoA) to submit to the Upper Chamber the names of congressmen allegedly getting monthly shares from the 2.25 percent of the net receipts of the revenues generated by operators from small-town lottery (STL) designed to fight the decades-old operations of "jueteng," an illegal numbers game.
Senators demanded stricter monitoring by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) of the shares of the revenues generated from the operation of the PCSO's STL project followingadmissions in Monday's Senate probe that congressmen were not required to liquidate their shares given by STL operators supposedly for medical and health demands of their constituents.
Senators Panfilo M. Lacson, Francis Escudero, and Teofisto L. Guingona III were surprised by the admission by PCSO officials that current rules only allowed congressmen to give acknowledgment receipts on their receipt as part of the operations of the STL.
Local government units (LGUs) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), who are beneficiaries of part of the 2.25 percent sharing, however, were required to liquidate their shares. The two agencies have checking accounts, while congressmen do not have.
While congressmen had been given this share since the STL started operations in 2006, Escudero asked in a jest why no senator was given a share for the medical and health requirements of their constituencies.
The STL was implemented by the PCSO to fight "jueteng" which had corrupted local government officials and the police through regular payolas (protection money), but Lacson pointed out that giving of STL operators' share to LGUs, the police, and congressmen is an apparent replica of the illegal operations of "jueteng" operators.
Most "jueteng" operations are in Luzon. Based on current rules, only one STL operation is allowed per province.
Guingona III, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, cited a Commission of Audit (CoA) report representing the congressional districts' share from Dec. 2006 to March 2007 where "P7 million was directly remitted to individual members of the House of Representatives, instead of releasing the shares to hospitals, health facilities, and institutions.
Ma. Aleta L. Tolentino, PCSO board member, told senators that these disbursements to the congressmen is now being audited by the PCSO.
She said the CoA itself stated that the books of STL operators were not in accordance with auditing principles "and they recommended that we look into the STL operators' books."
The CoA further stated that congressmen have not liquidated their receipt of their shares from STL operators.
As a result, Lacson asked the PCSO to suspend the congressmen's share of the STL operators' revenues until they have submitted receipt of previous disbursements.
Through the Senate committee, Lacson also asked the PCSO to submit how much and to whom the portions of the 2.25 percent of STL operators' revenues.
He, likewise, asked what's the legal basis for the PCSO in giving a portion of the 2.25 percent of the STL operators' revenues to the congressmen.
He pointed out that there is no provision in the PCSO charter that states that authorized to get funds for the congressmen.
Under the STL charity sharing scheme, revenues accruing to STL would be subdivided as follows: city or municipality, 10 percent; provincial government, five percent; congressional district, 2.25 percent; and PNP, five percent.
By the end of 2007, PCSO had already launched STL in 15 approved test-run areas. These include Quezon province, Angeles city, Bataan, Occidental Mindoro, Pampanga, Laguna, Bulacan, Negros Oriental, Iloilo city, Tarlc, Oriental Mindoro, Ilocos Norte, Albay, Olongapo and Batangas.
During the first year of operations (2006-2007), STL generated revenues totaling more than P3 billion, creating 62,500 jobs, and livelihood for displaced cabos (jueteng workers) and cobradores, as well as for the organic staff of the agent-corporations.
As the committee appeared to wind down its hearing, new PCSO management officials testified that the charity institution had a public relations (PR) expenditure of P7.2 billion from 2005 to 2010, spent mostly for tri-media exposures.
They also revealed that they are reducing their PR expenditures at a rate of two percent this year and a further reduction for next year.
Sen. Franklin M. Drilon said he could not understand why the PCSO spend billions for PR projects as these billions could help the needy, particularly those requiring medical help to hospitals.
Meanwhile, former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will answer all the charges leveled against her at the right time and at the right forum.
This was stressed Monday by Raul Lambino, one of the lawyers of the former Chief Executive after attending the public hearing conducted by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on the fund mess surrounding the state-run Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) where she allegedly approved the P325 million for the controversial intelligence operations of the PCSO from 2008 to the first four months of 2010, an election year.
"That is her position. At yan ang dapat.(and that is the correct way)," Lambino told Senate reporters.
"We have advised her it is not proper, not advisable that she talks any further on all issues. There are a lot of cases filed (against her) with the Department of Justice (DoJ), the Ombudsman, and the courts. These are legal problems she can properly answer before the courts," he said.
FROM THE PHILSTAR
GMA on fraud raps: Talk to my lawyers By Rudy Santos and Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star) Updated July 17, 2011 12:00 AM
[PHOTO - Former President, now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and husband Mike arrive at the NAIA yesterday. RUDY SANTOS]
Manila, Philippines - Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo finally arrived yesterday morning at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), ending speculations as to whether she would come back to face various criminal charges filed against her, including two plunder complaints.
"Just talk to my lawyers," Arroyo told reporters waiting for her at NAIA, in reference to allegations that she had a hand in anomalies uncovered in the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
Arroyo, who was accompanied by her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo and nine others, arrived at 8:55 a.m. onboard KLM Royal Dutch Airlines' flight 803 from Amsterdam and greeted the waiting journalists "good morning."
However, she declined to answer questions on the latest allegations of corruption and electoral fraud against her.
"We have a spokesman," Arroyo told reporters when asked about the latest graft allegations against her involving the use of PCSO funds for Catholic bishops.
The Arroyo couple was whisked away by security aides to an elevator that took them to a waiting convoy of sport utility vehicles and
sedans, radio reports said.
Her aides said she would proceed first to her house in La Vista, Quezon City and then go to her district in Pampanga yesterday or today to meet her constituents.
Atty. Raul Lambino, Arroyo's legal spokesman, said the former leader called him up shortly after her arrival and thanked him for his defense of her.
He said she would be meeting with him and her other legal counsels, including Estelito Mendoza, today or early next week.
"She called me up and thanked me. I asked her how she was doing, and she said she was okay. I told her to rest because it was a long flight because I got the impression that she wanted to work," Lambino said.
GMA will face all charges
Lambino reiterated that Arroyo will face all the criminal charges filed against her by allies of the Aquino administration, which he said, is resorting to a media campaign to stoke up public anger against her while at the same time diverting the people's attention to the failures of the government.
"She (Arroyo) is going to face and answer all these charges, but in the proper forum," Lambino said, adding all the complaints against her were baseless.
He said the vilification campaign was connected to the approaching State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 25 where President Aquino would be hard-pressed to present concrete achievements after one year in office.
Earlier, militant lawmakers filed a plunder complaint against Arroyo before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly misusing P325 million in intelligence funds of the PCSO.
They are also seeking a congressional inquiry into her alleged involvement in cheating in the 2004 and 2007 elections in Mindanao.
A plunder complaint was also filed against her before the Department of Justice in connection with the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, and another, tagging her as responsible for various human rights violations during her nine-year administration.
House Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez said Aquino has turned the entire government machinery into "one wrecking crew" just to get back at leaders of the previous administration.
"If your marching order is to dig up dirt to use against your enemies, instead of finding ways to improve the lives of Filipinos, you will self-destruct," Suarez said in a telephone interview.
"Imagine all the time and public resources to be spent on that one objective alone. And the people's attention is turned to these issues, so the national attention is on these issues, not the real urgent problems that we must address collectively," he said.
Suarez said the administration has "perfected the machinery" of attacking Arroyo since the presidential campaign.
"They know that if you hit GMA you will be on the headlines," he said.
The Arroyos left the country last June 29 for an undisclosed destination in Europe via Amsterdam and were expected to return last July 14, but a source said they made a side trip to Lourdes in France before taking their flight back to Manila yesterday.
Former PCSO chairperson Rosario Uriarte earlier revealed that she personally requested intelligence funds from then president Arroyo who approved it.
The former leader, however, was cool in the face of these recent developments and unfazed by the revelations of former Maguindanao election official Lintang Bedol on the alleged cheating she orchestrated in the 2004 and 2007 elections, according to Lambino.
"What is clear is that the former president did not talk to him (Bedol) and what he's saying are all hearsay. This is basic in the rules of evidence, so these statements would not be accepted in court," Lambino added.
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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