Garcia: Cancel check to son’s town

After all the fuss raised over his pork barrel funds deposited in the Office of the Governor, Rep. Pablo Garcia said he will no longer ask for its release.

He said he would write to the Provincial Treasurer to cancel a P55 million check intended for Dumanjug town, whose mayor is his son Nelson, who is running for reelection.

Garcia, in a press conference yesterday, said the money was actually intended for projects in the entire 2nd congressional district in south Cebu, not just Dumanjug.

Acting Gov. Agnes Magpale, who has been holding the checks for review, said her staff was “double checking” the documents, even as she questioned why funds of the congressman under the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) in the amount of P73 million were deposited as trust funds in the Governor’s Office, some still unspent since 2009.

The congressman has been pressing her to released the P55 million check, saying it was “urgently” needed as aid by his constituents in the 2nd district.

“Why wasn’t it just given directly to the towns when that can be done?” Magpale asked.

“And why wasn’t it released in 2009? Mura bitaw ug gipondo (It looks like the money was pooled,” she added.

“Why get the fund only now when it’s near the election?” she asked.

She confirmed that Rep. Garcia has P73 million of PDAF deposited in the provincial government.

The Office of the Governor was listed as the implementing agency of various projects in the SARO or Special Allotment Release Orders for the pork barrel.

Until her suspension last Dec. 18, 2019, the office was held by the congressman’s daughter Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.

“No doubt we will release it. The money is there. We just want to make sure it fits the SARO,” said Acting Governor Magpale.

“We are not holding it because of politics. We’re just being careful. Remember, what the DBM said – I’m accountable the moment it’s released.” she said.

“We are double checking. You can compare it to a pre-audit,” she said.

The congressman’s SARO is “complicated”, she said, with items still dated 2009.

“We will come up with a final decision once it’s complete,” she said.

She said some infrastructure items exceeded limits and that she wanted to prioritize the release of funds to pay for insurance coverage through PhilHealth cards for beneficiaries.

NO IRREGULARITY

Congressman Garcia said there was no irregularity in his using the Capitol as depository of his pork barrel funds.

“Akong giklaro sa akong suwat nga kadto alang sa mga local government units, municipalities, barangays in the second district of Cebu. Ako lang gibalhin ang maong deposito aron nga mas masayon ang pagpa-release sa mga financial assistance ngadto sa mga LGUs, municipalities and barangays,” he said.

Garcia said this has also been the practice of other Cebu congressmen like Rep. Benhur Salimbangon and former 2nd district congressman Simeon Kintanar who placed his PDAF in Argao town.

Garcia said this was the practice n the past five years, wherein he would only write the Provincial Treasurer to release an allocation to a municipality or a barangay that sends a request for financial assistance to his office.

Garcia said that it was the governor who signs the check for the release of the funding. He said he was never questioned about this before.

Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia was serving her third and last term after being elected in 2004.

She was suspended in December last year by the Office of the President for six months in an administrative case of grave abuse of authority for usurping functions of then vice governor Gregorio Sanchez Jr.

Magpale, her former ally, is running for vice governor in May in tandem with Liberal Party standard bearer Hilario Davide III, who is contesting the gubernatorial bid of Gwen’s brother Rep. Pablo John Garcia.

Magpale earlier ordered a review of the Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) that covered the P55 million check after being given a legal opinion by by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) that she could be held liable for disbursement of funds not covered in the SARO.

But Garcia said that Magpale should not worry because there is a SARO that specifies the program.

“Technical malversation? Dili ka na mahitabo. Kay ang mo-process niana mao ang treasurer ug accountant. Ug before they will prepare the check, ilang i-check kana kon authorized ba na sa SARO,” he said.

“So, there’s no problem. There’s no danger on the part of acting governor,” he added.

Rep. Garcia said he would follow the same procedure as before of forwarding requests for aid from town s and barangays in his district to the Capitol.

He said Magpale could be the one to distribute the checks of his PDAF.

“Ug gusto sila nga sila lang, sila lang,” Rep. Garcia told reporters.

He said the P55 million check for Dumanjug was for the rehabilitation of barangay roads and electrification projects, among others in this district.

He showed reporters a copy of the summary of the releases of his PDAF since 2010.

It showed that P11.5 million was spent for district-wide electrification, construction and rehabilitation of public markets, multi-purpose buildings and barangay roads.

An amount of P5 million was also released in 2010 under the 2010 leadership fund.

In 2011, P12.5 million was released in the second tranche on food security to local government units; P4.7 million for medical and hospitalization and burial assistance; and another P5 million for food assistance to indigent families in the second district.

In 2012, P4.2 million was released for the victims of calamities; P7 million for food assistance to indigent constituents; and another P7 million food assistance for senior citizens.

In a DBM letter dated Feb. 15, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad replied to queries from Acting Governor Magpale about the pork barrel.

Abad said that the province of Cebu as the administrator “is responsible in ensuring that the disbursement thereof is consistent with the purpose specified by the trustor (Rep. Garcia), in this case the proponent legislator”.

He said there is “no specific time frame within which a fund shall be disbursed” after it has been deposited with the local treasury.

“Nonetheless, the purpose of the trust fund should not be defeated especially when time is of the essence for the implementation of programs and projects specified by the proponent legislator,” Abad said.

“On the other hand, the Acting Governor in disbursing the PDAF should be mindful as well of the prohibited activities during the election period such as disbursements for public works, social works and housing-related projects covered by the election ban,” he added.

Magpale earlier said that she wanted the SARO checked first because she is ‘careful’ in the disbursement of the funding.