GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Malacañang’s stock answer to cries of sleaze in the executive branch is beginning to sound silly. “Present evidence in court, not in the press,” presidential spokesmen jeer Atty. Harry Roque about unearthed fraud in the hog dispersal project. They forget that Roque is citing official findings of the Commission on Audit. Meaning, since the COA itself sees felony in the P1.7-billion deal, then Malacañang must help indict the crooks. More so since it’s the President’s sworn duty to uphold the law.
The state-owned Quedan Rural Credit Guaranty Corp. is under the executive. President Gloria Arroyo appointed its CEO Nelson Buenaflor in 2001. During the years 2003-2004 under COA review, Quedancor was in fact attached to the Office of the President, having been moved from (then returned to) the agriculture department. Malacañang thus shares responsibility for Quedancor’s payment of P1.7 billion for ghost supplies of swine by four companies with meager means. More so if its spokesmen obfuscate instead of publicly explain the matter.
The swine scam occurred the same time as Agriculture Usec. Jocjoc Bolante’s P780-million ghost delivery of fertilizers to admin political allies. The modus operandi was identical, perhaps the motive too of doling cash to legislators and governors preparatory to Arroyo’s 2004 presidential run.
From reports, Quedancor in late 2003 contracted four favored piglet suppliers. Metro Livestock Inc., BIRKS Agri-Livestock Inc., New Gold Agri-Vet Co., and Silver Rock Resources Corp. allegedly had paid-up capital of less than P1 million each. Yet they were awarded contracts up to 500 times their worth, way beyond the government limit of only tenfold. Quedancor even paid the firms in advance, although they showed no proof of having delivered to farm cooperatives or local governments.
Evidently in a hurry to filch the public funds, Quedancor and cohorts carried out the scam so messily. From papers in COA hands, the same guy fronted for three of the suppliers. Genuine bidders were eased out of the contracting. Supposed beneficiary-farmers never got the piglets; some were paid P200-P300 to sign false delivery reports. Quedancor in turn booked the P1.7 billion as “bad debts” to thousands of chiselers.
This month Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Apostol tried to fool the public into thinking it was illicit to identify the farmers. He fibbed that Quedancor operates as a bank and thus is bound by the Bank Secrecy Law. The agency, he claimed, may not disclose its withdrawers sans court order.
In truth, however, Quedancor is a mere conduit of funds from true state banks like Land Bank and Development Bank of the
Not only are Palace factotums muddling the issue by taunting Roque to go to court. There is also no effort at all in Malacañang to go after the Quedancor felons. The Presidential Anti-Graft Commission, usually keen to proclaim accomplishments, has yet to investigate Buenaflor.
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Maybe people shouldn’t believe Palace spokesmen. Not even the President’s men do. Like, they stated that Malacañang would not meddle in the Ombudsman’s graft indictment of former justice secretary Nani Perez. Promptly the next day present justice secretary Raul Gonzalez interloped that the case is weak because the principal accuser has lost interest.
Gonzalez was faking, though, about the effect of Mark Jimenez’s 2006 decision to forgive Perez of alleged $2-million extortion. Here are the facts. The Ombudsman filed four criminal cases against Perez, numbered 08-0265 to 08-0268: corruption, robbery, falsification of public document, and hiding $1.7 million from his Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Co-accused in the first two are Perez’s wife Rosario, brother-in-law Ramon Arceo, and trade partner Ernest Escaler.
The four raps stemmed from an incident at Jimenez’s
Jimenez naturally is listed as witness in the four complaints. If ever his case pullout impaired any, it’s robbery where he’s eyewitness (along with wife and son). In the other cases, there are witnesses like Wendy Lee Wing Tak of Coutts Bank-Hong Kong, Wayne Patrick Walsh of Hong Kong’s justice department, Vladimir Stemberger of EFG Bank-Geneva, and more.
The cases seem solid. But then, Gonzalez may know something we don’t, that’s why he’s conditioning the public mind this early for Perez’s acquittal.
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