Gov. Degamo laments COA report premature, politically motivated

DUMAGUETE CITY , Philippines— Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo on Monday lashed out at some media practitioners and outlets in this city on what he described as unfair treatment of a report from the Commission on Audit that he believed had hurt him and his administration.

In an unusually well-attended press conference at the Capitol, Degamo sent out what he described as a strong message to his detractors that he was unfazed by this latest strike against his administration, which he described as "obviously politically motivated."

He declined, however, to name those he believed were the culprit behind the circulation of the purported COA report.

Degamo was referring to the COA report, which he had not received to date, being discussed by some broadcast and print media practitioners from an unofficial source, the news story of which first surfaced a few weeks back.

The COA report being referred to involved the supposed illegal implementation of projects amounting to more than P149-million, which formed part of the calamity fund pledged by President Benigno Simeon Aquino III after the province was devastated by typhoon Sendong.

That report specifies projects such as river channeling and the deepening, construction and rehabilitation of dikes in many parts of the province that the COA report noted were "overpriced."

Some members of the media reasoned out that, while the governor's stand or reaction was solicited at the time of the release of the COA report, the documents they claimed to have in their hands were authentic. They also did not disclose the source of the documents that were the bases of their reporting.

Degamo lamented though that the media practitioners who published the COA report or discussed it on air never attempted to get his side of the story before it was released to the public.

The governor described the media release of the COA report as "poisoning the minds" of the people, insisting that anyone involved in the report should have been informed first about it before making it public.

Provincial Administrator Richard Enojo told The Freeman that the Capitol stood firm on its stand that there was no illegitimate disbursement of funds allocated for the province to cushion the impact of Sendong.

Both Degamo and Enojo said this is an old issue that is now being revived by some quarters who want to put a bad light on the name of the governor. The same issue has already been answered in the past, they said. (FREEMAN)