MANILA, July 10, 2011—The Makabayang Koalisyon ng mga Mamamayan (MAKABAYAN) welcomes the parallel investigation that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is doing, in connection with the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) ‘intelligence’ fund mess.
In a statement, Dr. Ed Clemente of the MAKABAYAN-Quezon City said that they are expecting transparency and consistency over the probes being conducted by the Philippine senate, the Office of the Ombudsman and by the CBCP, and that the investigations would yield a positive result in terms of resolving the issue of using the PCSO money as payola, in guise of intelligence fund.
“Poor Filipinos who need most of the supposedly charity money [from the PCSO] were the main to suffer because [these] public funds were being corrupted by some government officials,” says Clemente.
Clemente also said that President Benigno C. Aquino III should act swiftly, in prosecuting and incarcerating government officials involved in the money laundering in the PCSO, particularly former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who, according to former PCSO General Manager Rosario “Rose” Uriarte, is the one who signed the papers to immediately disburse the P325 million to be used as ‘intelligence funds.’
“We don't want to hear broken promises again. PNoy must be decisive enough to act and start breaking his silence over issues of corruption by the past administration,” Clemente stressed.
Clemente also said that he wonders why the Palace keeps on “doing nothing” in prosecuting the former chief executive and her cohorts, as the PCSO mess is just an “addendum to the corruption issues being attributed to the past administration.”
During the Senate investigation, it was revealed that the intelligence funds were released in tranche, with P75 million, P90 million, and P160 million in the years 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively.
Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Teofisto “TG” Guingona III was ‘amazed’ with the big increase in the intelligence fund released in 2010, the year when the former president vied for a congressional seat.
“Bakit napakalaki [ng itinaas ng intelligence fund] at bakit ginawa noong panahon ng eleksiyon [ang paglalabas ng pondo]?” the senator said in a statement.
The senator also said that Mrs. Arroyo should explain her involvement with the mess.
Meanwhile, MAKABAYAN said that they will be watching over the developments of the ongoing parallel investigations on this issue and other cases of corruption and human rights violations allegedly committed by the past regime. (Noel Sales Barcelona)
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