PCG chief retires today amid graft raps

MANILA, Phiippines - Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo will retire from government service today as graft cases against him and his aides remain pending before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly anomalous transactions involving P125 million released by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) in 2008 for its National Oil Spill Contingency Plan.

Tamayo will be replaced by his deputy for operations, Vice Admiral Ramon Liwag, who was also implicated in the graft cases.

DOTC Secretary Jose de Jesus, who is on leave until April 26, said he had endorsed Liwag’s promotion after reviewing his credentials and the allegations against him.

“It always happens. When someone is being considered for appointment, all kinds of derogatory information surface, many of them unfounded,” he told The STAR.

De Jesus said he chose to endorse Liwag’s appointment because “he is the most senior, and he seemed to be the most deserving.”

The DOTC said that it was still trying to get a copy of a Commission on Audit (COA) report in which auditors found numerous irregularities in the use of the oil spill fund.

Acting DOTC Secretary Aristotle Batuhan said while the cases had already been filed before the Ombudsman, the DOTC will conduct its own investigation on the alleged irregularities involving Tamayo and several PCG officials.

Once they get a copy of the COA report, Batuhan said they will refer it to their legal office for appropriate review and follow-up. “That’s the only time that our legal (office) will evaluate the propriety of filing a case,” he said.

According to the 2010 COA report, some of these anomalous transactions are unliquidated and irregularly issued cash advances, public biddings for equipment and spare parts worth more than P70 million involving supplies without legitimate business offices, and the “short” delivery of search and rescue equipment and items worth P9.9 million for the PCG’s supposed elite rescue unit, the Specialized Medical Assistance Response Team.

“The purpose of the public bidding is for government to procure quality goods and services at the price most advantageous to the government. When bidding processes becomes questionable, the items and services procured are likewise doubtful,” the auditors noted.

Tamayo denied the allegations, saying a DOTC audit team “did not find any irregularities in the utilization of the said fund.”

He also said when he inquired into the graft charges filed against him, especially by a certain Mario Dichoso, “there was no such complaint filed by said person. On the other hand, the undersigned was given an Ombudsman clearance for retirement from the Coast Guard service. Furthermore, attempts to establish the identity of Mr. Dichoso has been futile.”