NBN asks NBI help to recover P1.7-M airtime payments

MANILA, Philippines – Government-owned National Broadcasting Network (NBN) 4 has asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for help to get back P1,765,000 worth of airtime payments.

NBN general manager and CEO Jose Isabelo told NBI Director Magtanggol Gatdula the payments were made anomalously with the help of unidentified network employees.

In letter dated Oct. 28, 2010 to Gatdula, Isabelo said some of their employees might have colluded with a certain Richard Belarmina to defraud the network of revenues.

The STAR was provided a copy of the letter, along with supporting documents.

Isabelo said NBN had signed a contract with Belarmina, who allegedly headed Pacific Enterprises & Merchandising Inc., dated Dec. 23, 2008 for a one-hour daily airtime for the firm’s telemarketing program.

“However, developments indicate that said signature may have been falsified as we have supported reasons to believe that Belarmina as client is a manufactured entity (non-existent),” read the letter.

Against network policy, this program was aired even without the required Pay Before Broadcast (PBB) stipulations in December, he added.

Isabelo said for the duration of the contract from December 2008 to November 2009, a pattern of systematic remittance underpayments took place, resulting in a total accumulated underpayments of P1,765,000.

Daisy Cabunag of NBN’s collection department issued a memorandum to Chit Gatan, head of the programming section, asking for the telephone number and address of Belarmina.

The address written on the contract signed by Belarmina is a vacant lot, Isabelo said.

“Strangely, despite the patent underpayments, the personalities involved failed (either wittingly or unwittingly) to address the issue and prevent the ballooning of receivables by demanding full payments as stipulated in the contract,” he said.

Isabelo said it is “very evident” that Belarmina and his accomplices in the network “pre-planned the scam to defraud the network of revenues” through a systematic pattern of underpayments.