Questions raised on office lease

MANILA, Philippines - Taxpayers are reportedly spending P840,000 a year on lease payments for the extension office of a senator, which is situated in the building owned by the senator’s spouse.

Sources told The STAR that the Senate entered into a lease contract with the administrator of the building, located in Quezon City.

“The lease is about P70,000 a month and the contract is between the Senate and the administrator. The funds used to pay come from the MOOE of the senator,” the source said.

Under the General Appropriations Act, lawmakers are empowered to augment the budget of their offices. Savings from personnel services (PS) and unused travel expenses, for example, are diverted to Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses or MOOE, state auditors said.

Each senator reportedly receives an MOOE allocation of P1.2 million a month, while P1.1 million goes to PS.

Sources said the Commission on Audit (COA) got hold of the contract between the senator’s office and the owner of the building represented by the administrator who is detailed at the senator’s office. The administrator signed the contract on behalf of building owner, the source said.

“(The administrator) is also receiving salaries (in the position at the Senate),” the source added.

Because of the controversy on the use of Senate funds, the COA is now waiting for the senators to voluntarily give detailed accounting of their MOOE expenses for the past year and for the next years.

Lacson to file charges

On the other hand, Sen. Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the Senate committee on accounts, said he is preparing enough evidence to file graft charges against what he called the “senator concerned.”

In a radio interview, Lacson hinted that the building administrator detailed at the senator’s office also was a signatory to the contract of lease. But he refused to drag the official into the issue.

“What is questionable is that the lessor is a staff at the senator’s office and it is clear that the said senator is using that office,” Lacson said without naming the senator.

Lacson had early on questioned the propriety of a senator’s lease agreement with an office building owned by the lawmaker’s family.

Lacson also confirmed that there is an existing contract between the Senate and building administration from 2010 to 2014.

“This is so current,” said Lacson, who withheld further details.

Lacson also confirmed the report that P840,000 annually is being paid for office rent.

He questioned the propriety of a senator using the office’s budget to lease an extension office in a family-owned building.

Lacson refused to identify the “senator concerned” and said he would defer his expose for the meantime.

“There is no reason to speed up the filing (of charges since this has no prescription period). But I will definitely file this, so that we will have a conclusion on this (use of Senate funds),” Lacson added.

Lacson said he has looked into the articles of incorporation of the building, as well as the personal data sheet (PDS) of the Senate officer whose name appeared in the contract.

A quick net search showed the senator holds an extension office at the fourth floor of the building located at 4th Street, Barangay West Triangle in Quezon City.

The building is named after the senator’s spouse who had served as a Cabinet official.

Morality

Lacson also clarified yesterday that he was not siding with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and his chief-of-staff Gigi Reyes, who both came under fire over Enrile’s move to give only P 250,000 to four senators last Christmas.

Enrile had provided some P1.3 million to 18 senators last month in additional MOOE.

“I am hurt that the senators are being painted as thieves… I am not defending the Senate President but the Senate,” he said.

Lacson admitted the senators may have lost the moral ascendancy to conduct probes on use of funds by government agencies because of the controversy. He said the view is different for every individual senator.

He also noted Enrile, as Senate president, may have lost points when he tried to besmirch the memory of the late senator Rene Cayetano by bringing up the alleged unpaid P37-million unpaid debt to their law firm.

Last Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano confronted Enrile over his statements.

Cayetano insinuated how Enrile and his chief of staff were running the affairs of the Senate.

In submitting his office for audit, Lacson said he hopes that his colleagues will also volunteer to open their books.

“I’d like to think that this crisis, depending on our actions, to convert these negative to positive actions. It’s in the Senate records, it’s in the news, the public knows about it,” Lacson said.

“I hope we will be able to have positive steps due to these issues,” he said.