Solon: Lifestyle checks should start with ‘Eastwood’, ‘Ford’

Serious about a lifestyle check? Start inquiring about "Clint Eastwood" and "Harrison Ford."

This piece of unsolicited advice was given to President Arroyo yesterday by House Minority Leader Carlos Padilla (LDP, Nueva Vizcaya), who said she need not look far in her much-ballyhooed anti-corruption campaign and can begin in her own backyard.

Padilla said Mrs. Arroyo should make inquiries about a Palace undersecretary and an underling "whom dzRH’s Joe Taruc and Deo Macalma have labeled Clint Eastwood and Harrison Ford."

"They were so named because the undersecretary is reportedly building a mansion in the affluent Eastwood City enclave in Libis, Quezon City, while the other is allegedly driving around in a new P2-million Ford Expedition," he said.

Eastwood City is a booming commercial-residential area across Corinthian Gardens and Acropolis, which are located also in the Libis area. Lot prices in Eastwood start from P20,000 per square meter. The smallest lot available is 1,000 square meters and is worth at least P20 million.

Padilla said a Cabinet undersecretary relying on his P30,000 gross monthly salary alone would never be able to buy a lot in Eastwood even in his lifetime.

"I do not know who these officials are, and I am not saying that they cannot afford it. Maybe they can. Maybe they have hit the lotto jackpot, struck gold somewhere or have found a piece of the Yamashita treasure. What I’m saying is that Mrs. Arroyo should verify the reports," he said.

He added that he has no reason to doubt the reliability of Taruc’s and Macalma’s information.

Padilla agreed with colleague Rep. Willie Buyson Villarama (Aksyon Demokratiko, Bulacan) that the anti-corruption campaign should focus on Cabinet members, their undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, bureau directors, and other Palace appointees.

Last week, Villarama suggested that the President look into reports that some Cabinet members made millions of pesos or even dollars in connection with some power plant deals and from shaking down corrupt businessmen who were allies of ousted President Joseph Estrada.

At the same time, the opposition leader called for the return of pre-audit of government transactions by the Commission on Audit.

He said since the time of former Chairman Francisco Tantuico when pre-audit was scrapped and post-audit was introduced, losses from corruption and questionable transactions have mounted.

"This is because in post-audit, the auditor gets only a sampling of the deals he examines. Irregular deals are often not covered by the examination. In many cases, the auditor is forced to issue a clearance because the transaction is already a fait accompli and payment has already been made," he said.

This is the reason why the public now rarely hears about a state auditor stumbling upon a fund scandal or exposing a scam, he added.

Padilla urged COA Chairman Guillermo Carague to study the possibility of returning the pre-audit system even if it means increasing his auditing staff.

"The huge sums that can be saved from checking and preventing anomalous deals would be much more than the amount the government would spend in hiring additional auditors, if it has to," he said.