?MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman has filed criminal charges against former Technical and Skills Development Authority director general Augusto Syjuco Jr. and his wife, ex-Iloilo Rep. Judy Syjuco, for allegedly siphoning off government funds and diverting them to a non-government organization that they formed.
Aside from the Syjucos, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales also found sufficient grounds to file graft charges before the Sandiganbayan against former TESDA Deputy Director General for Field Operations Santiago Yabut Jr. and Maria Nela Yniesto, president of Tagipusuon Cooperative.
The charges arose from the disbursement and use of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of then congresswoman Syjuco amounting to P20 million, which was coursed through the TESDA.
The amount was released to and implemented by the Tagipusuon Cooperative, a Syjuco-founded NGO.
The P15 million of the PDAF was used to purchase school uniforms, notebooks, schools bags and supplies for public elementary and high school students of the 2nd District of Iloilo.
?The funds were originally appropriated for the TESDA scholarship program --Invigorating Constituent Assistance in Reinforcing Employment, or I-CARE program)--involving technical and vocational job-related skills training program for middle-level manpower.
?The Syjucos together with Yabut and Yniesta, entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) in Dec. 23, 2005 to make it appear that the Education for All Projects of Congresswoman Syjuco is a counterpart project of the I-CARE program “in order to attain a semblance of legitimacy on the disbursement of P20 million.”
"?The TESDA funds, which were originally appropriated by law for the conduct of job-related skills training programs, were applied differently from their purpose since they were utilized by Tagipusuon, under the auspices of the I-CARE Program, for the purchase of school bags, notebooks and uniforms, and thereafter, distributed to elementary and high school students instead," the resolution said.
?Ombudsman Morales affirmed the charges “since the funds were eventually disbursed for the implementation of a project which was clearly inconsistent with the mandate of the implementing agency TESDA to the detriment of the intended beneficiaries of the I-CARE Program.”
?Ombudsman Morales also noted that “Tagipusuon used P916,000 of the funds as payment for the salaries and wages of the members/employees of the cooperative” which is prohibited under National Budget Circular No. 476, and P546,181.16 for administrative costs to cover office rentals, hotel expenses for general assembly, communication/cellphone load expenses and other expenses.
?In addition to the criminal indictments, Ombudsman Morales referred the copies of the Joint Resolution and Joint Order to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) for immediate action on possible violations of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
The Ombudsman dismissed the complaints for insufficiency of evidence against Milagros Hernandez, Buen Mondejar, Annabelle Quimbo and Cariza Dacuma.