Ombuds-Visayas probes 14 "pork scam" cases

BACOLOD CITY , Philippines  â€” There are 14 cases of alleged 'pork barrel scam' involving congressmen in the Visayas that the Ombudsman-Visayas is investigating.

Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol, in an interview with Bombo Radyo-Bacolod yesterday, said the cases involved four congressmen from Cebu, and the rest from Negros Occidental, Iloilo, Leyte, and Samar provinces.

Apostol said two of these cases have been resolved at Ombudsman-Visayas level and have been forwarded to Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales for final action.

These two "resolved" cases involved the complaints against former Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella (now the mayor of Bacolod) and Iloilo 2nd District Rep. Augusto Syjuco Jr., who is also former director-general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

The case against Puentevella stemmed from his release of P38 million of his PDAF from 2002 to 2005 for an IT (information technology) package for elementary and secondary schools in Bacolod, which were allegedly found to be defective and unsuitable for school use.

Each computer package, which comes with accessories, costs P400,000. It was reportedly overpriced by P14 million, according to an investigation report of the Bacolod City Legal Office under then city legal officer Allan Zamora (now deceased).

Former Bacolod City legal officer Joselito Bayatan, who served under the Puentevella administration, had earlier claimed that Puentevella's computers were not only overpriced at P400,000 each but also constituted ghost deliveries.

A total of 56 units of computer, amounting to more than P22 million were unaccounted for, since only 41 of these and IT packages were delivered, even if  97 computers were purportedly purchased using Puentevella's PDAF.

Syjuco, for his part, said he is now making these cases a top priority, and his office has partnered with the media to help gather evidences to resolve these.

Only by filing cases against guilty officials can we succeed in our fight against corruption, Syjuco said in Tagalog during the Bombo interview. (FREEMAN)