Political candidates told to disclose campaign fund sources

MANILA, Philippines - A lawyer yesterday called on senatorial and other political candidates for the 2010 elections to reveal the sources of their campaign funds in order to remove doubts about any conflict of interest.

Lawyer Ernesto Francisco Jr., who filed a complaint to stop the political advertisements of government officials using government funds, warned these politicians that he also plans to file cases against them if they are found to be using government funds in their campaigns.

“It is not enough if it is their money. First, they should tell where the funds came from. If these are donations from supporters or friends, they should disclose where these came from,” he said, when asked if he would go after the senators using government funds for their political campaigns.

He said the reason why politicians are mandated to submit statements of expenditures in the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is to avoid possible conflict of interest if they get elected.

Francisco said he is planning to file a criminal and administrative complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman against Director General Augusto Syjuco of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), for his continued use of public funds for his political ads.

“I am inclined to file a criminal and administrative complaint against Secretary Augusto Syjuco before the Office of the Ombudsman. If you read this Audit Observation Memorandum, this is a grave matter. I think he should be charged. He should answer criminally and administratively for this,” Francisco said in an interview last Friday at the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 22.

Francisco has earlier filed before the same RTC branch an Application for the Issuance of a Writ of Preliminary Injunction and/or Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), to stop the ads of Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Jesli Lapus; Vice President Noli de Castro, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) Chairman Efraim Genuino, Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretary Nasser Pangandaman, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, and Syjuco.