FIVE years after being disallowed in audit, the government has yet to recover the P75.8 million worth of advertising placements approved in 2017 by the Department of Tourism (DOT) under former Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo that went to a television program hosted by her own brothers.
The 2023 audit of the People’s Television Network Inc. (PTNI) released on December 1, 2024 listed the 2017 transaction worth P60.009 million and the 2018 ads payment worth P15.79 million as “unsettled” and “under appeal.”
Based on records, the transactions were initially issued notices of suspensions with a requirement for persons held liable to justify and submit required support documents, but both ripened to notices of disallowance in 2019 when the conditions were not complied with.
The P75.8 million ad placements formed 57.63 percent of the PTNI’s P131.52 million total unsettled disallowance as of yearend 2023.
Government auditors flagged the DOT’s ad expenses in 2018 as they pointed out that the Kilos Pronto program is produced by Bitag Media Unlimited Inc. (BMUI) which is owned by Secretary Teo’s own brother Bienvenido “Ben” Tulfo.
In 2021, the Office of the Ombudsman dismissed criminal complaints for corruption filed against Teo, Tulfo, DOT executive assistant Arlene Mancao, PTNI general manager Dino Antonio Apolonio, PTNI Airtime Management Group head Ramon del Rosario, and Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) administrative officer Ma. Alma Francisco.
Graft investigators gave weight to Teo’s defense that she did not favor her brother’s media outfit since the ad placement negotiation was strictly between DOT and PTNI.
The ruling noted that it was PTNI that assigned the tourism ads to be aired on Kilos Pronto.
While admitting that Tulfo is her brother, Teo said they are not close and rarely talk to each other.
Other than the unsettled disallowances, the Commission on Audit also said the PTNI has not collected P15.08 million in total receivables from Tulfo’s BMUI.
Bitag Media was listed as the “client” of the state-owned television station for the program “Bitag Live” which aired from 2018 to 2020. Auditors said the PTNI has yet to collect P5,624,304 in unpaid receivables.
On the other hand, the balance of P9,457,978 was incurred through BMUI’s “Kilos Pronto” program from 2017 to 2018.
“Non-collection of the receivables listed above deprived the network of funds which could have been used for its current operations and/or potential investments,” the COA said.
The PTNI management said its Finance Department is preparing demand letter for clients to settle their obligations.