DOT chief charged with graft by fired execs

Tourism Secretary Gemma Cruz-Araneta and three other department officials were charged anew yesterday in the Office of the Ombudsman for violating the anti-graft law when they recalled eight tourism attachés.

The eight said their replacements, mostly presidential appointees, did not pass the rigorous selection process of the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

They added these appointees did not actually have the expertise to speak the language where they would be posted and lacked the background on tourism marketing and promotion.

"We fear that, in implementing the policy of recall, the pertinent information was misrepresented with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the CSC," they said, complaining that their replacements were introduced as attachés even though they were not.

"The CSC was made to believe that the recalled overseas officers were merely designated, despite hard evidence of appointments that are permanent and location-specific," they added.

Among the complainants were Consuelo Jones (Sydney), Domingo Enerio III (Frankfurt), Emma Ruth Yulo-Kitiyakara (New York), Eduardo Jarque Jr. (London), Araceli Soriano (Tokyo), Ma. Elena Villanueva (San Francisco) and public relations officers Tarcisio Bufete (New York) and Nelson Laluces (Sydney).

Besides Araneta, those who were charged of graft were Tourism Undersecretary Roberto Antonio, Romulo delos Reyes, director of the Bureau of International Tourism and Promotion (BITP); and Virginia Baraan, chief of BITP's overseas offices division.

The complainants said "we perceive that the irregularities have resulted in the dissipation of limited financial resources, which could have been put to better use vis-a-vis DOT's priority projects."

They added that the expenses incurred by the government in their recall as well as the posting of their replacements were "highly disadvantageous to the government, and should be thoroughly reviewed by the Commission on Audit."

"It is not consistent with DOT's claims that the mass recall of overseas personnel has been implemented for purposes of economy," they said.

Araneta, Antonio and two Singapore Airline officials are currently being investigated by the Ombudsman for allegedly receiving $1 million lobby money from the foreign airline company.