Fired DPWH official denies ill-gotten wealth raps

A dismissed undersecretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) accused the government yesterday of making him a "sacrificial lamb" in its anti-corruption campaign.

Salvador Pleyto said investigators of the Ombudsman’s Office had ignored voluminous documents detailing financial records of his family’s businesses. "They never listened to us," he said.

"We have been religiously paying our taxes since 1977. We have been in this business for a very long time. Even when my children were still very young. That’s why I could send them to good schools. Now, I already have grandchildren," Pleyto said. He said the government has been singling him out since he was suspended in September 2003.

"There are many others like (former justice secretary) Nani Perez, DPWH Secretary Florante Soriquez, but what happened to their cases?" he asked. "Mind you, Soriquez’s case has reached the Sandiganbayan. But it appears to be I’m being singled out."

Pleyto said Ombudsman investigators could have checked the financial records of his family’s businesses or summoned records of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, where the taxes they have paid are reflected.

Pleyto said his family acquired its assets through profitable business ventures, not corruption in government. The properties were acquired over 25 years, he said. Pleyto said he and his wife, Miguela, have been engaged in three business ventures — piggery, money lending and pawnshops — since their three children were small.

"Properties purchased in 1979 are definitely more expensive and would have a higher valuation in 2003," he said.

Pleyto said the Ombudsman’s argument that his assets rose significantly in just a matter of one year was "deceiving if not downright malicious" since they did not take into consideration the P6.5-million liabilities he had declared.

"These increases are therefore not surprising," he said. "Any inference to the contrary knowing that a bank loan of P6.5 million exists, and is declared in the very statement of assets and liabilities in issue is clearly dumbfounding if not malicious."— Delon Porcalla, Jose Aravilla