MANILA, Philippines — The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) allegedly got a share in the P60-million television advertisement that the Department of Tourism (DOT) placed in a program produced by the brothers of ex-tourism secretary Wanda Teo.
Teo’s lawyer Ferdinand Topacio recalled that Ben Tulfo had told him in one of their conversations over the phone that the P60 million was already spent on production stuff, to the PCOO and paid to his employees.
Topacio, however, said Tulfo did not provide more details as to how much the PCOO received.
“I was told that the P60 million wasn’t set aside so it could be easily returned. The money was used for production, salary for people and allotment for PCOO, too,” Topacio said.
Topacio’s statement came a few days after Tulfo posted on his Facebook page “Ben Tulfo Unfiltered,” saying that Bitag Media, the company he runs, did not say it will return the P60 million since the controversy started.
Tulfo insisted they were able to deliver the contract for one year and completely paid all of the taxes.
“From the start, we at Bitag Media did not say we would return the money paid to us by PTV because we were able to deliver the contract within one year,” Tulfo said in Filipino.
Topacio, however, said Teo called him sometime last May 7, authorizing him to publicly announce that her brother Ben had told her he would return the P60 million to put an end to the controversy.
Topacio said he would not forget about Teo’s order as he was at the Supreme Court that time supporting the quo warranto petition filed against then chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
Topacio added he was confident at the time that the money would be returned to the government based on what Teo had told him and from what he heard from Tulfo during their previous talk.
Topacio said, though, that he respects the decision of Tulfo whether or not he will return the money.
Following the resurrection of the issue, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat does not want to meddle with the issue, saying they are now focused on working to achieve their 7.4 million tourist arrival target for this year.
Puyat added that the DOT has referred the issue to the proper authorities.
‘Name names’
As this developed, Malacañang yesterday urged Topacio to reveal the names of those in PCOO who allegedly benefited from the controversial advertisement deal that was flagged by state auditors.
“I hope (the names) will be made public because it is unfair… if the entire PCOO is subjected to this kind of criticism. I hope they are named, file a complaint, place them in the affidavit so they can be investigated thoroughly and properly,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said at a press briefing.
In a report, the Commission on Audit (COA) said Teo may be liable for graft for possible conflict of interest because the ads aired on the program of her brother.
Roque said a crime is committed if the final report of the COA is not complied with and the money is not returned to the government.
“If there is disallowance in the final report, there would be a recommendation to return (the money). If it is not returned, a crime is committed because the elements of the crime, especially damage to the government, would already be present insofar as they did not return the money as required by the COA,” he said.
“If the government personnel does not comply with the COA findings, they can be charged with graft and corruption,” he added.
The refusal to return the money can be referred to the Office of the Ombudsman for “proper action,” according to Roque.
“If they don’t heed the recommendation that the particular expenditure is disallowed and they must return, then the COA report will now be used to prove an element of graft,” he added.
Roque also clarified that leaving public office does not extinguish one’s criminal responsibility and liability.
Gordon vows Senate probe
Meanwhile, Sen. Richard Gordon yesterday gave assurance that he was not sitting on the resolutions seeking a probe into the allegedly anomalous advertising deal.
Responding to the allegations made by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV that he was not acting on the resolutions filed by him and Sens. Leila de Lima and Nancy Binay, Gordon said the Blue Ribbon committee, which he heads, is taking the necessary steps in preparation for probing the issue.
As early as May, the committee sent a letter requesting for copies of documents related to the advertisement placements of the DOT in the state-run PTV network, according to Gordon.
He said that like in every other inquiry by the committee, the necessary investigation is conducted to determine if there is sufficient basis to proceed.
“We don’t just investigate. Of course, we get the facts of the case. We are already in the process of investigating. Upon my instructions to the director, we wrote a letter requesting for documents,” Gordon said, referring to Blue Ribbon committee director general Rodolfo Quimbo.
The committee wrote Puyat last May 31 requesting for copies of all documents related to Senate Resolutions 721, 726 and 740, calling for an inquiry into the issue.
The DOT was asked to submit the documents on or before June 5, but Gordon has yet to call for the hearing.
Trillanes said he wanted the Senate committee on tourism headed by Binay to conduct the inquiry but this was “snatched” by the Blue Ribbon committee.
Trillanes said he would ask Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri to refer the resolutions to another committee that is willing to investigate the matter. – With Alexis Romero, Marvin Sy