Roque miffed at PPA chief for not returning calls amid COA finding on P10M infinity pool

(FILE PHOTO) Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday barely hid his annoyance when he bared his attempts to reach Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago by phone to get his side into the findings of the Commission on Audit (COA) into the construction of a P10 million-worth infinity pool in La Union.

During his regular briefing, Roque said that he had called up Santiago “at least 10 times,” but to no avail, therefore, he could not defend the position of the agency.

The COA said PPA built an “unnecessary” infinity pool with an accompanying guest room in San Fernando City, La Union worth P10 million.

“Pagdating po sa PPA, ilang beses ko na po tinawagan si GM Santiago, hindi po ako sinasagot. Siguro po mga sampung beses na akong tumawag sa kaya. Nais ko pong depensahan ang kanyang infinity pool pero kung hindi po niya ako sasagutin, wala po akong magagawa,” Roque said.

(When it comes to the PPA, I have called GM Santiago numerous times but he isn’t picking up. Maybe I called him about 10 times. I want to defend his infinity pool but if he won’t answer me, I can’t do anything.)

“Sumangguni na po ako kay [Transportation] Secretary [Arthur] Tugade para sagutin ang mga tawag ko ni GM Santiago. Siguro po, sabi ni GM Santiago, hindi niya karapat dapat sagutin ang mga tawag ko dahil hamak lang akong presidential spokesperson,” he added.

(I consulted Secretary Tugade for GM Santiago to respond to my calls. Perhaps, GM Santiago thought that he shouldn’t answer my calls because I’m just a presidential spokesperson.)

On the matter of the COA’s report on the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration’s (OWWA) P1-million worth of hygiene kits purchased from a trading company, Roque assured that the agency would respond in due time.

“Ang makokomentohan ko lang po yung sa OWWA dahil ang OWWA lang po ang nakipag-ugnayan sa atin. Unang una po, sabi ng OWWA, ang report po ay hindi pa po pinal. Yan po ay sasagutin pa ng ahensya,” Roque said.

(I can only comment on the issue involving OWWA since they are the only ones that coordinated with us. First, OWWA said that the report isn’t final yet and the agency will answer it.)

“In any case, sabi po ng OWWA, meron naman po silang unqualified opinion na ang OWWA people fulfilled their fiscal responsibilities for 99.9 percent of the time in the fiscal year 2020,” he added.

(In any case, OWWA also said that they have an unqualified opinion as they fulfilled 99.9 percent of their fiscal responsibilities for the fiscal year 2020.)

The COA gives an “unqualified opinion” to a government office that fairly presents its financial position and has its financial statements in accordance with the Philippine Public Sector Accounting Standards.

EDV