DOJ, NBI scramble to go after SARO fakers

NBI officer-in-charge Medardo De Lemos. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has already issued subpoenas to persons tagged in the multi-million fake Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs) racket, said NBI Officer in Charge Atty. Medardo De Lemos Wednesday.

“Justice Secretary Leila de Lima ordered us (NBI) to investigate the fake SAROs upon the request of Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad,” said De Lemos in an interview with INQUIRER Radio 990AM.

De Lemos said lawyer Romulo Asis, anti-graft chief of the NBI, is handling the investigation.

He said the NBI is coordinating closely with The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) in the probe.

“We should finish the investigation as soon as possible,” De Lemos said.

On Monday, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said there was no release of government funds for fake SAROs. But Abad reported that the P879-million fake SAROs meant for farm-to-market road projects was found in Regions II (Cagayan Valley) and VI.

Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima identified Regions IV-A (Calabarzon), VI (Western Visayas), and XII (Soccsksargen) as also involved in churning out bogus SAROs.

“The NBI is now tracing three more regions that alerted the main office of either the DA or the DBM. They inquired: ‘Is it true that this SARO is for us?’ Apparently, they also saw other fakes,” De Lima said in a separate interview with INQUIRER Radio.

The bogus SARO scam was exposed amid the public outrage over the P10-billion pork barrel scam. Abad said DBM has already centralized the approval process of SAROs.

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