INQUIRER file photos
The lawyer of former Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo should identify the Communications officials who benefited from the controversial P60-million advertisement deal between the Department of Tourism (DOT) and Bitag Media Unlimited, Malacañang said on Tuesday.
This development came after lawyer Ferdinand Topacio told radio dzBB that Bitag Media owner and television host Ben Tulfo could not immediately return the entire P60 million back to the DOT because some of it was also spent on the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).
“Ang sinabi niya (Tulfo) sa akin, ay nagastos niya (ang P60 million) sa production, sweldo ng mga tao, pati daw PCOO ay meron diyan. It will take him some time. Kaya nagkaroon rin po ako ng pahayag after that na baka pwedeng unti-untiin, etc.,” Topacio said.
(What he told me is that he had spent some of the money in the production, salary of people, even the PCOO had a slice of it. It will take him some time. That is why there had been a suggestion in my earlier statement that maybe it could be returned little by little.)
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that Topacio should just spill the names of PCOO officials who benefited from the advertising deal so a proper investigation could be made.
“Hinihikayat ko rin po si Atty. Topacio, as an officer of the court, to reveal kung sino itong sinasabi niya na kahati, para naman maimbestigahan at hindi naman buong PCOO eh mabansagan,” Roque said in a press briefing.
(I am also encouraging Atty. Topacio, as an officer of the court, to reveal the names of those who partake of that [budget], so that they can be placed under investigation and not the entire PCOO is negatively being branded.)
“Well sana po isapubliko naman yan, kasi unfair sa PCOO na yung buong PCOO ay subjected to this kind of criticism. Sana pangalanan, mag file ng reklamo, ilagay sa affidavit nang maimbestigahan ng tama at mabuti,” he said.
(I hope they say it in public because it is unfair for the PCOO, that the whole PCOOis subjected to this kind of criticism. I hope they name names, file a complaint, put it in writing in the form of an affidavit so a formal investigation will be conducted rightfully.)
The Commission on Audit (COA) had issued a notice of disallowance against the ad deal between DOT and Bitag Media.
The COA flagged the transaction due to possible conflict of interest, which might be seen as a violation of the anti-graft law, because Teo and Tulfo are siblings. /jpv
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