'Probe alleged TESDA anomaly'

MANILA, Philippines - Senatorial bet and former Labor Undersecretary Susan Ople yesterday sought an investigation into alleged attempts to manipulate the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) fund.

Ople said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) should look into the serious allegations that former TESDA chief Augusto Syjuco is being allowed to run the agency via remote control.

“TESDA’s reputation has been tainted because of allegations of corruption leveled against Syjuco by the workers themselves. This time, no less than his former deputy and successor has backed up these claims. The Office of the President should let Labor Secretary Marianito Roque to step in and probe all of these charges because these are very serious allegations affecting a vital agency,” she said.

Ople said TESDA chief Roger Peyuan, whose appointment was withdrawn by Malacañang just two days after he assumed office, must reveal what he knows about alleged anomalies within the agency.

Peyuan claimed that Syjuco lobbied for his replacement because the former TESDA head allegedly plans to misuse the agency’s funds to support the candidacy of senatorial bet Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

He said Syjuco campaigned against him because he rejected the latter’s proposal to control half of the agency’s P700-million technical vocational training scholarship fund.

Syjuco, who quit his post to run for a congressional post in Iloilo, was previously charged and cleared of charges over the purchase of overpriced and substandard equipment under the Ladderized Education Program-TESDA (LEP-TES) and Nordic Development Fund-TESDA (NDF-TESDA).

“He said that we should split the P700-million scholarship fund, with him calling the shots on the spending of P350 million and I’ll have the other P350 million,” Peyuan said in Filipino.

He said Malacañang should look into it to assess Syjuco’s credibility because the overspending was highly irregular considering that the agency received a huge P5.6-billion budget from President Arroyo, which she took from her Presidential Social Fund.   – With Rainier Allan Ronda, Paolo Romero