Senate: DOT probe to cover Duty Free goods

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said yesterday the Senate’s forthcoming inquiry into the various controversies surrounding the Department of Tourism will cover the more than P2 million in luxury goods taken from Duty Free Philippines Corp. (DFPC) under the leadership of DOT’s former secretary, Wanda Teo.

The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the orders of Teo and her undersecretary Rolando Cañizal to get branded bags, kitchen ware, grocery items, luxury brand cosmetics and other goods and charging these to DOT’s share in DFPC’s annual profits.

Trillanes, Sens. Nancy Binay and Leila de Lima have filed their respective resolutions calling for an inquiry into the anomalous P60-million advertisement placements made by the DOT in a television program hosted by Teo’s brothers.

The COA also flagged these transactions, which were based on a memorandum of agreement between the DOT and People’s Television Network Inc.

Trillanes said Senate committee on tourism chair Binay has agreed to hold the hearings but she is currently out of the country.

He said the latest fiasco involving Teo will be included in the inquiry once Binay schedules it, most likely when Congress resumes session on the third week of July. 

“First, we want to find out the magnitude of the corruption in DOT under Teo. We also want to know the policy of DOT that allowed this mess to happen. Finally… the changes made to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Trillanes said.

Senate Resolution 740 filed by De Lima did not limit the scope of the inquiry to the ad placements made by the DOT, but to the “alleged irregular transactions and wasteful spending” of the agency under the term of Teo.

In her resolution, De Lima said “it behooves the Senate to pursue the COA findings, as well as the findings of (new Tourism) Sec. (Bernadette) Romulo-Puyat, in order to shed light not just on the liability of the public officials who wasted away our people’s money on deals that are clearly disadvantageous to the government, but also on remedial legislative measures that should be undertaken to prevent similar irregular and wasteful department-wide spending.”

Duty Free willing to cooperate

DFPC chief operating officer Vicente Angala confirmed receiving official requests for various Duty Free merchandise for sponsorship and corporate giveaways by the DOT.

“These requests were evaluated and found compliant with the guidelines of GPS (gate pass slips) issuance and usage. Per the recommendation of the Commission on Audit, the DFPC is currently in the process of creating a detailed report of the items pulled out from DFPC by the DOT for the previous year,” Angala said.

He added the DFPC, “as a partner for truth and transparency, is working in collaboration with the Commission on Audit, the DOT and other concerned agencies to ensure accountability on this matter.”

The COA said the DFPC should bill the DOT for its purchases, saying the use of funds from its share of profits violated Republic Act 9593 or the Tourism Act of 2009.