‘If the anomalies were true, why would I kill the auditor?’

VIGAN CITY — "Under the circumstances, the best and most practical way to silence him should have been to fix him with cash, not with bullets."

Thus reacted former Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson to the latest charge of the Save Ilocos Sur Alliance (SISA) that he might allegedly have a hand in the murder of provincial auditor Agustin Chan last Oct. 4.

Chan and his driver, Alex Recacho, were killed in a broad daylight ambush along the national highway in Sitio Baoay, Barangay Paing in Bantay, Ilocos Sur.

In a press conference in Quezon City, SISA called on the Philippine National Police (PNP) to invite Singson for questioning "to be able to know the real circumstances of Chan’s murder."

"We will know the truth in the murder of auditor Chan if only the police will be allowed to do their job as professionals," said lawyer Estellita Cordero, SISA’s legal counsel.

The group alleged that Chan had issued a "tracer" demanding Singson to liquidate nearly P224 million in funds before he (Chan) was ambushed.

In his tracer, Chan, SISA claimed, complained that after repeated follow-ups of an earlier letter with the provincial government, "still no list has been submitted."

Audit report

Singson denied the group’s allegations, saying, "If the alleged anomalies were true, why will I kill the auditor?...I should fix him with money."

He said he may kill 10 or more auditors "but the records of their investigation (of financial misdeals will) remain. So you end up gaining nothing from the killing."

Singson said Chan’s audit report did not alarm him but which is being magnified by his detractors.

"If it did (alarm me), it would have been easy for me to approach him as he was a friendly guy," he said.

SISA cited records showing that Chan wrote the provincial accountant on Sept. 4, 2001 asking that the local government furnish the Commission on Audit (COA) a listing of expenditures chargeable against Republic Act 7171 for the year 2001.

Cordero said they decided to publicly reveal the records which, she claimed, they recently received from the provincial COA office itself, to shed light on the Chan murder.

"More so when the police investigators themselves have concluded that the murder of Chan is work-related," she said.

SISA added that in April 2001, Chan asked Singson to liquidate P124 million in accumulated cash advances or he would be made liable for malversation of public funds.

The group has filed a fifth complaint for malversation against the former governor for these alleged unliquidated cash advances.

In yesterday’s press conference, SISA also called on President Arroyo to stop giving Singson favors.

"President Arroyo should start listening to the calls of the people of Ilocos Sur," Cordero said.

Aid from Estrada camp

Meanwhile, Singson seconded Sanny Pat Segismundo, wife of SISA president Nestor Segismundo, that the group has been getting "financial recompense" from the camp of ousted former President Joseph Estrada.

"Where else can he (Segismundo) get the money to make himself a new house," he said, noting that Segismundo is just an ordinary employee of a government agency.

Singson said he is convinced that Estrada is using SISA to discredit him after he discovered that the media bureau of Estrada’s Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) was allegedly the one arranging for the press briefings of SISA in Manila.

He said that invitation letters to media people were faxed from the PMP media bureau and the alleged source of the letters was PMP spokesman Crispin Remulla.

Singson said SISA is a small group but it is allegedly serving Estrada’s purpose of impugning his credibility before he appears in the Sandiganbayan in the plunder case against the ousted president.

Singson and Estrada used to be bosom buddies until a quarrel with another presidential friend, Atong Ang, forced him (Singson) to accuse Estrada of receiving kickbacks from tobacco excise taxes and payoffs from financiers of jueteng, an illegal numbers game.