COA told: Why didn’t you stop PDAF?

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has demanded an explanation from the Commission on Audit (COA) over its failure to release notices of disallowance (NDs) covering billions in Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) from 2007 to 2009.

In a resolution approved on June 10, but made available to reporters by a court insider only yesterday, the high court directed COA Chairman Grace Pulido-Tan and COA special audit office director Susana Garcia to answer the petition for mandamus filed by former Manila councilor Greco Belgica within 10 days.

In a 21-page petition for mandamus, Belgica said Tan has reneged on her promise during oral arguments on the PDAF case last October to issue the NDs amounting to P6.156 billion.

“It is crystal clear that the tenacity of the respondents not to issue the NDs, despite being reminded of their duties/promise, constitutes defiance of the commands of the fundamental law, the Administrative Code and Republic Act 6713 (General Auditing Code) and the 2009 Revised Rules of Procedure of the Commission on Audit,” he said.

He said such act constitutes “inexcusable neglect, paranoia-like fear, and indifference anathema to our system of public accountability and to the principle of transparency enshrined in the Constitution.”

Belgica said Tan, who applied for a post at the high tribunal, should show “honesty and integrity by showing transparency, in all transactions in the government, rather than protecting certain alleged misconduct.”

Expanded audit

He said the issuance of the NDs should also pave the way for an expanded audit of the PDAF to include the Countrywide Development Fund, its previous form in the 1990s.

“It is the issuance of these NDs that will trigger the start of an all-out, honest-to-goodness investigation and prosecution of all legislators and executives who utilized and abused the pork barrel system from 1991 to the present,” he said.

The COA has found 772 projects funded by PDAF and implemented by 82 non-government organizations, which submitted spurious documents or failed to liquidate in whole or in part the funds released to them.

Of the 82 NGOs, only 10 were linked to suspected pork barrel scam brains Janet Lim-Napoles.

Napoles tagged 10 incumbent and eight former senators in the scam. Among them were Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, Gringo Honasan, Lito Lapid, Loren Legarda, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Aquilino Pimentel III, Ramon Revilla Jr., Vicente Sotto III and Cynthia Villar.

Also in Napoles’ list were former senators Robert Barbers, Rodolfo Biazon, Loi Ejercito, Robert Jaworski, Ramon Magsaysay Jr., Tessie Aquino Oreta, Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Manuel Villar.

Napoles also tagged Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority director general Joel Villanueva.

Estrada’s former chief of staff flees

As this developed, Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Siegfred Mison said Pauleen Therese Mary Labayen, Estrada’s former deputy chief of staff who is also facing charges in connection with the pork barrel fund scam, had left the country.

He said Labayen left even before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division issued a hold departure order (HDO) against her.

BI spokesperson Elaine Tan said Labayen, using a different name in her passport, left the country sometime last year. She said they are still retrieving her flight details to determine her country of destination.

She said there was no record of Labayen’s departure, but they recently discovered that she used a passport that bears the name Pauline Therese Mary Labayen Cabico.

Labayen, who was Estrada’s secretary since he was mayor of San Juan, resigned last year.

The BI said two others tagged in the pork barrel scam have left the country prior to the issuance of an HDO against them. They are Antonio Ortiz, former director general of the Technology Research Center (TRC), and Renato Ornopia, an employee of JLN Co. and president of Kaupdan Para sa Mangunguma Foundation Inc.

On the other hand, Enrile’s deputy chief of staff and co-accused, Jose Antonio Evangelista, posted a P450,000 bail yesterday.

Feigning sickness

Meanwhile, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago accused Enrile of feigning sickness to avoid detention.

“The real cause of his sickness is his stem cell treatment… (which) instead of improving his physical health, has made it deteriorate,” said Santiago, who revealed yesterday that she was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer last week.

“I am all against any VIP treatment for any detention prisoners unless all others are placed in the same situation,” she added.

She also noted that detainees are crowded like sardines into city jails because they have no money to post bail.

All detainees 60 years old and above should be allowed hospital arrest if the courts approve Enrile’s petition, she said.  – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Evelyn Macairan, Michael Punongbayan, Christina Mendez