GMA orders probe on alleged Palace bribery incident

A full-scale investigation by the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) into the alleged cash-giving incident in Malacañang is already underway as ordered by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said today.

Bunye made the statement after the President authorized him to disclose to the media the ongoing PAGC probe of the alleged cash giving at Malacañang even as he maintained that no official Palace fund was released for that reported purpose.

He said the President ordered the probe Friday after learning through media reports that certain lawmakers and local officials have admitted receiving cash gifts when they attended separate meetings in Malacañang last Oct. 11, although the common denominator in all these accounts is that they do not know the source of the said funds.

Bunye noted that PAGC chairman Constancia de Guzman had already begun the probe a day after the alleged incident took place but was not authorized to disclose details of the investigation given the confidential nature of such PAGC investigations.

“The investigation will focus on who gave these supposed cash gifts to the congressmen and governors,” Bunye said. “Nobody in Malacanang can just disburse or distribute any fund without the proper budgetary allocation and standard auditing procedures.”

He noted that the reason that the President had not been commenting on the issue was because she had already ordered a thorough probe on this matter.

“President Arroyo wants the PAGC to find out who was the source of the funds and what he or she was doing at the Palace during an official function,” Bunye added.

Bunye said the probe would also find out whether there was bribery involved and for what reason.