Interior Secretary Eduardo Año (File photo by NOY MORCOSO / INQUIRER.net)
MANILA, Philippines – Interior Secretary Eduardo Año denied on Tuesday that campaign shirts from senatorial aspirant Christopher “Bong” Go, which were distributed during the Liga ng mga Barangay Convention held from Feb. 25 to 27 in Pasay, were funded by the government.
In Memorandum Circular No. 23, Series of 2019, Año encouraged village officials to attend the event and authorized those participating in the convention to charge their travel expenses and registration fees from their local funds.
The fee, which includes payment for seminar materials, reportedly ranged from P13,800 for those who did not stay at select hotels to P19,800 for stay-in attendees.
Convention kits given to delegates included campaign shirts of Bong Go, which Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano, a senatorial candidate of the opposition, said were bought with public funds.
Año denied the allegation.
“We categorically deny the allegation of Rep. Gary. Alejano that government funds were used to purchase Bong Go campaign t-shirts and distributed during the Liga ng mga Barangay Convention,” he said in a statement.
According to Año, the memorandum is standardized for all local government league events.
He said that the memorandum also stated that the expenditures of the officials were “subject to the availability thereof and to the usual accounting and auditing requirements and to all pertinent laws, rules, and regulations.”
“We wish to emphasize that nothing in the memorandum permitted the use of government funds to pay for any campaign materials of any candidate. So, Alejano is barking at the wrong tree when he showed the DILG [Department of the Interior and Local Government] memorandum as basis for his unsubstantiated allegation,” he said.
Año also clarified that the Liga ng mga Barangay National Convention was an independent activity initiated and implemented by the national league officers.
The activity had its own organizers and the DILG only provided guidelines so that it would be done in accordance with the law.
Año said the league also assured the DILG that no public funds were used to buy campaign materials of any candidate.
He said that the league explained to the DILG that the shirts were paid for by Bayan for Bong Go, a private organization supporting the candidacy of Go.
“The DILG under my watch will never allow any irregularity more so allowing the use of public funds for unauthorized items,” Año said.
He also stressed that he personally knew Go, who would “not allow barangay captains to spend a single centavo for him.” /atm
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