Rody’s FOI / ‘Missing millions at DSWD-CAR’

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

Winning presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte may yet turn out to be a pleasant surprise after all the incendiary language which became his trademark during the campaign.

Now, he is set for a wild foreign policy ride as the next Philippine president even as his spokesmen say he will tone down his language once he takes his oath as 16th president of this banana republic on June 30.

The firebrand politician stormed to victory in national elections last week using a queer brand of populism and nationalism. Now he is giving us a peek on the kind of governance he will instill.

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As part of his commitment to transparency, he said Wednesday he would push the immediate approval of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act as soon as he is proclaimed.

Duterte said he would allow the public – through the mass media – greater access to government documents to ensure that every transaction is aboveboard.

He said he does not even have to wait for legislation to ensure transparency in government as he is willing to order executive offices and local governments, “to open up documents” for scrutiny. He said local government officials should not be afraid of allowing public access to documents – that is if they’re not hiding anything. This will be done through an executive order.

The presumptive president also urged the media to be vigilant and to expose anomalous or questionable transactions in government. But he warned media members allegedly on the take to shut up. He said he is prepared to do “anything that makes the Filipinos comfortable” and shun what makes them “uncomfortable.”

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One positive trait our friendly neighborhood drunken philosopher finds in Duterte is he doesn’t mince words when he talks unlike most government officials who engage in gobbledygook.

He says Congress may take another 100 years to approve the FOI bill considering it would be in the bad interest of many of them who engage in shady deals. “Puede pala executive order eh. Bakit si P-noy di niya nagawa?” He answers his question talking about vested interests of those in power, saying maybe this time, the FOI will finally become a reality.  

Duterte’s spokesman Peter Laviña said Duterte is ready to push for FOI as he believes transparency is a key to progress. Transparency, Laviña said, “is a key policy” in Davao City.

This would be good journalists who are always given the runaround when they ask for public documents from public officials who try as much as possible to hide these when they sense the media is sniffing out an anomalous deal or project.

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Take for example he millions of pesos allegedly being withdrawn by officials of the Dept. of Social Welfare and Development’s Cordillera regional office which they reportedly put in their private accounts for a period of at least two weeks.

According to our sources, the millions of public money are deposited in banks so these could earn interest and withdrawn in time for audit. The others reportedly use these for quick loans in their money-lending businesses.  

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The Northern Philippine Times exposed the story two weeks ago. Nerizza Villanueva, regional DSWD information officer said they would issue a statement on the matter but until now – nada.

The actuations of these officials who have reportedly embarked on a “witch-hunt” within the regional office to identify sources of this paper in our  articles on the matters has only fueled interest from the public that DSWD officials are hiding something.

Suspected employees have reportedly been harassed, grilled and made to confess by their department heads of being the source of our articles. These gods-that-be have reportedly toned down after we wrote about the matter. Like we said, all they have to do is address the allegations and not go after the sources. What they are doing is “daang matuwid” papunta sa bangin.

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To the DSWD regional office gods-that-be: Pangaasi yo met a ta haan dagita kakaasi nga empleyado apan yo parigrigaten. Like I said, they are not the sources of our articles.

Regional director Janet Armas, if she is back from her leave, should tell her  department heads and those holding the money bags to stop harassing their subordinates. What they are doing could be against Civil Service rules and regulations.

In the interest of transparency so the public may know, we urge the regional DSWD to hold a press conference or a kapihan to clarify this issue and talk about its programs.

We would like to reiterate that since the regional Philippine Information Agency under its director Helen Tibaldo is holding media kapihans every week, they could ask the DSWD to be the respondents this time.

All these started when DSWD finance officer Oliver Garcia Hernandez, was charged April 28 for alleged malversation of public funds and estafa by the DSWD. Hernandez was due for inquest and an arrest warrant could be out against him in due time.

A police report said the missing money was found out by the DSWD finance department on April 20. The report said Hernandez allegedly received a total amount of P3,176,000 but failed to turn over the same to persons-in-charge for disbursement.

Our sources said the case was just the “tip of the iceberg,” as millions of pesos of SPF among other funds were allegedly being withdrawn from the Landbank by DSWD officials who put these in personal bank accounts to earn interest or lend these for profit.

Sources said the National Bureau of Investigation could also investigate this practice as this could be in violation of laws and charge those involved.

This is a matter of public interest since millions of pesos of public money are at stake. Like we said, DSWD officials can just show documents or answer allegations in the interest of fair play.

Again we ask, why the silence in the regional DSWD?