Syjuco: Graft case just political persecution

MANILA, Philippines - Iloilo second district Rep. Augusto Syjuco Jr. slammed his political opponents yesterday for allegedly being behind a graft case filed against him before the Sandiganbayan.

“It’s simply a case of political persecution,” Syjuco, former chief of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), told The STAR, saying the charges against him were baseless.

 Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales has indicted Syjuco and 10 other TESDA officers along with private res-pondent Vicente Roxas, president and chairman of V.G. Roxas Co. Inc.

The charges stemmed from alleged irregularities in the disbursement of public funds for TESDA’s Ladderized Education Program six years ago.

 â€œI did not pay a single centavo for the deficient deliveries of the supplier. So how can I be charged of a crime when there was no crime?” said Syjuco, who is seeking re-election.

 â€œAlso, I did not pay for any undelivered items from the supplier. And finally, I even confiscated more than P5 million from the supplier for unliquidated damages,” he added.

Syjuco said he had answered the allegations against him in detail as early as August 2010.

“Records will show that it was I, and no other, who ordered the cancellation of purchase orders and imposed the freeze, rollback, and confiscation of the P39 million for damages and restitution from the supplier’s receivable balance and it was I who withheld payments for this by TESDA,” he said.