|
By Angelo S. Samonte Reporter
President Gloria Arroyo has done
the things that need to be done to address corruption and is working
hard to further improve the government’s anticorruption drive,
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said.
Bunye is reacting to the call of
House Speaker Jose de Venecia for the President to act on corruption
and sacked government officials and members of her Cabinet involved
in it.
He also announced during the
regular press conference in Malacañang Wednesday that the President
ordered an investigation into the alleged bribery attempts inside
the Palace last week, a matter that the administration previously
dismissed as a “nonissue.”
Mrs. Arroyo tasked the
Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) to look into the
controversy mainly to unmask the persons responsible for making the
offers and to know where the funds came from, Bunye said.
But he clarified that if there
was money changing hands Thursday last week, there is no government
fund involved. Earlier, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. said his
office had not released money for local officials.
“We want to make it clear that
there is no public fund involved here although we still have to wait
for the result of PAGC’s investigation. Also, it was clarified by
the Department of Budget and Management that there is no allocation
for it,” he said.
The money that changed hands last
week reportedly amounted from P200,000 to P500,000 for every
recipient.
Bunye added PAGC actually started
its discreet investigation on Friday last week since the
anticorruption investigative body must maintain the confidentiality
of its investigations if a report to the executive secretary is not
yet completed.
Asked how credible the
investigation is, Bunye said it would be truthful because the
President has set the parameters of the investigation and that a
report to the executive secretary is forthcoming. But he said
President Arroyo did not give the commission a timeframe when to
come up with a final report.
The Palace will also welcome
separate investigations by the Congress to help Malacañang shed
light on the issue surrounding bribery of local officials.
And if the Palace could
successfully determine the people involved in the alleged bribery,
Bunye said, filing of cases against them at the Office of the
Ombudsman could follow, particularly if the commission’s
investigation yields substantial evidence.
Bunye admitted that the President
is affected and upset by the media reports about the bribery, saying
Mrs. Arroyo wants closure to all the issue, the reason she ordered
an investigation.
Some local officials who had
claimed to have received the money had pointed to Palace staff
members for giving them paper bags with cash inside but during an
interview last Sunday Bunye said, “There is nothing wrong with
receiving a donation, provided it is put to good use.”
The development comes in the wake
of separate statements by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the
Philippines and a senior military official Tuesday expressing
concern over the reported bribe offers.
Gov. Ed Panlilio of Pampanga, a
Catholic priest who first spoke about the matter, said he got
P500,000 after President Arroyo’s early morning meeting with 200
officers and members of the Union of Local Authorities of the
Philippines (ULAP).
After the ULAP meeting, another
one was held between the President and about 190 majority
congressmen.
Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.
confirmed during an emergency meeting in Malacañang that the
impeachment complaint against Mrs. Arroyo was discussed during the
lawmakers’ meeting.
|
