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.
***
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.”
***
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.
***
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.
***
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.
***
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?
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