Ex-NIA chief faces P541-M graft, malversation charges

A former administrator of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) who was recently appointed head of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) was slapped with graft and malversation charges before the Ombudsman yesterday over the alleged misuse of P541 million in government funds.

The case against Jesus Emmanuel Paras, brother of Negros Oriental Rep. Jacinto Paras, was filed by Pambansang Ugnayan ng mga Nagsasariling Lokal na Organisasyon sa Kanayunan (Unorka), which claimed that the money was sourced from the controversial coco levy funds.

In a three-page complaint, Unorka secretary general Enrico Cabanit said that Paras failed to show how the money, which the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) released while he was still NIA chief, had been spent.

He added that Paras, who is also the administrator of the funding for the program beneficiaries development component of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), revised the list of beneficiary-provinces stated in the special allotment release order.

"Contrary to his representations and misrepresentations, as soon as the funds were released, he forthwith whimsically and capriciously caused the revision of the listing of the areas set forth," Cabanit complained.

He said areas not covered under the program had been inserted while those from the original list were excluded. The provinces that already received their allocations likewise had been included again on the list, doubling the government’s expenses.

Cabanit cited the area of Balasig CIP Tumauini in Isabela, which he said was given an allocation of P10 million but this had been suddenly slashed to P5 million without the approval of the DBM and the Presidential Agrarian Reform Commission.

According to Cabanit, CARP funds should be used for communal irrigation system projects and not for national irrigation projects funded by NIA.