PNoy men face raps for misused P800B

Outgoing officials of the Aquino administration may be charged with technical malversation over unreleased Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) amounting to P800 billion for Local Government Units (LGUs), Batangas Gov. Hermilando “Dodo” Mandanas said.

Named as respondents in the case submitted for resolution were Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., the National Treasurer and chiefs of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Bureau of Customs (BOC). According to Mandanas, they were involved in approving the release of the IRA but allegedly withheld and misused part of it for national government programs, instead of automatically releasing the entire amount to the LGUs in accordance with the law.