Palace: Parked funds in PITC not idle

MANILA, Philippines — The P33.4-billion funds parked in the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC) are not necessarily idle, Malacañang said yesterday.

Quoting Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said at least P11 billion of the funding would be used to buy military equipment and supplies.

“The President said it’s just right to determine which projects will push through and which ones will not. But the projects that are under different stages of procurement would not be canceled, including the P11 billion-plus that came from DND (Department of National Defense) for the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) modernization,” Roque said at a press briefing.

“The President said there is no issue here. So what if the P33 billion is parked? It does not mean it is idle. They may be undergoing different stages of procurement,” Roque added.

Roque said the trade, finance and budget departments are determining which projects would be implemented.

“For the projects that won’t push through, the funds would be returned by agencies to the national treasury so the President can use it for other items,” the Palace spokesman said.

Go: Explain ‘parked’ funds

Sen. Bong Go asked the PITC to explain and resolve the issue of P33 billion reportedly stashed in the agency that should have been used to purchase vital equipment for frontline agencies and relief supplies for disaster victims.

Go urged the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which has supervision over the PITC, to immediately act on resolving the issue of “parked” funds in the agency that other senators want turned over to the National Treasury to be used for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines.

“PITC officials should explain to the public and to the Senate what’s the truth about these funds, why they are said to be ‘parked’,” he said.

Go said the looming Senate inquiry into the matter should give the PITC a chance to explain its side.

Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez denied any irregularity in the PITC as far as the P33 billion is concerned.

Senators asked why it is taking the PITC so long to return to the treasury the P33 billion it failed to use even as they warned the agency’s officials could be held liable for graft.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan said the Executive branch should waste no time in retrieving the funds that should have been spent years ago for fire trucks, Army boots, first-aid kits and relief goods for disaster victims.

“We can cite the anti-graft law, especially the provision on causing undue injury due to gross and inexcusable negligence, if no action will be done soon. It is criminal that there is a sitting, unutilized P33.4-billion fund when we are struggling to look for ways to pay for COVID-19 vaccines and provide aid for millions of typhoon victims. And we are yet to receive a convincing answer as to why it is just sitting there,” Pangilinan said. – Paolo Romero, Cecille Suerte Felipe