Yap defends self in PDAF mess

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines — The allegedly bogus non-government organization must be the one to explain the anomalous funds it received from the priority development assistance fund (PDAF), or pork barrel, according to re-electionist Rep. Arthur Yap (3rd district, Bohol).

Yap clarified that he should not be one to explain the funds just because he was agriculture secretary when the alleged anomaly transpired.

There must be an investigation on the use of PDAF after a report from the Commission on Audit showed that the pork barrel of some senators and congressmen went to a “bogus” NGO allegedly through the Department of Agriculture, which he headed at the time, said Yap.

Yap clarified that the DA secretary never gets involved in endorsing NGOs to senators to become recipients of their PDAF, and that he had no idea who ran the NGO implicated in the issue.

“I do not know the people behind the NGO. I also did not refer the NGO to Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Juan Ponce Enrile and Bong Revilla. It is not the secretary’s job to refer NGOs to senators for the use of their PDAF,” said the congressman.

Yap dared for a scrutiny on how the documents were processed and how ZNAC Rubber Estate Corp. (ZREC) went through the transaction, because it was already outside his role then as DA secretary.

“So to get to the bottom of this, let us ask the ZREC to bring out the NGO’s accreditation papers and see how the NGO was qualified or who recommended for it. I should not be asked about the use of the PDAF because these are not regular DA funds but the funds of senators,” Yap said.

The broadsheets broke the news last week, quoting a COA report finding “some P195 million in PDAF allocations in 2009 and 2010 of four lawmakers—Senators Enrile, Estrada and Revilla—and Buhay party-list Rep. Rene Velarde, went to Pangkabuhayan Foundation Inc. (PFI)”.

According to the COA, as quoted by broadsheets: “PFI fabricated documents and forged signatures for the liquidation of the funds and that the PFI president, Petronila Balmaceda, could no longer be reached.”

Estrada asked Yap and ZREC board to explain why the PDAF allocations went to PFI. In response, Yap was earlier quoted by national television saying, “I don’t recall the name of that foundation. That senators and congressmen, then and today, are allowed to endorse coops to undertake projects using their PDAF. But the recipient coops must account for their usage and liquidate the funds. In this case, the concerned NGOs must be called to account for the funds they received. There are procedures followed when government funds are released for use.”

Senator Chiz Escudero, for his part, told Bohol media recently that the senators and the congressman dragged into the issue should be asked to explain what really happened to save the credibility and integrity of the Senate.

Escudero also said questionable practices in PDAF spending should be stopped because some lawmakers consider their pork barrel as their personal bank account.

The senator further said the lawmakers’ PDAFs belong to the taxpayers and no senator or any congressman has the right to claim it as his own. (FREEMAN)