Palace lauds graft, malversation raps vs Pichay

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang yesterday hailed the indictment of former Surigao del Sur congressman Prospero Pichay over alleged irregularities he committed when he was chairman of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) during the past administration.

Secretary Edwin Lacierda welcomed the decision of Department of Justice prosecutors to file charges of corruption, malversation and violation of banking laws against Pichay and acting LWUA administrator Daniel Landingin.

The presidential spokesman noted that LWUA under the stewardship of Pichay in 2009, and later under Landingin, had “entered into allegedly anomalous transactions with Express Savings Bank, Inc., then on the verge of bankruptcy” despite the absence of requisite approvals from the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Monetary Board.

According to Lacierda, a total of “P80 million was used to acquire 60 percent of the outstanding capital stock of ESBI, while another P400 million taken from LWUA funds was deposited into the ESBI.” The bank’s alleged actual book value at the time of the purchase was -P31 million, the DOJ said.

“The resolution of the DOJ panel, along with all records of the case, has been transmitted to the Office of the Ombudsman for appropriate action,” he said in a statement.

The indictment of Pichay and Landingin, he reiterated, “represents yet another milestone in our quest to promote a culture of good governance in this country, where the fight against corruption and the fight against poverty are equally important in achieving our vision of a progressive and prosperous Philippines.”

The investigating panel junked the defense of Pichay that the charges against him should be dismissed for forum shopping since the same were already filed with the Office of the Ombudsman.

“A careful examination of and comparison between the two complaints readily shows that they are different,” the DOJ panel explained, pointing out the case was filed by DOF while the one in the Office of the Ombudsman was filed by LWUA employees.