JUSTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra yesterday said Sen. Manny Pacquiao can directly file cases before the Department of Justice or the Office of the Ombudsman if he has evidence to back his claim about corruption in several government agencies.
Guevarra made the statement when asked if the DOJ-led Task Force against Corruption (TFAC) will ask Pacquiao for copies of documents proving the alleged corruption in government agencies such as the Departments of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Health, and the Department of Energy, based on the senator’s revelations last Saturday.
“I’m sure Senator Pacquiao knows his options. If he has sufficient evidence in hand, he may cause the filing of anti-graft charges directly with the Office of the Ombudsman or the DOJ,” Guevarra said.
“If he thinks that further investigation is necessary, he may refer the matter to the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission if presidential appointees are involved or to the Task Force against Corruption for all others,” he added.
Pacquiao on Saturday said he would file a resolution at the Senate seeking an investigation into his allegations. The filing was supposed to be yesterday. Pacquiao flew to the US on Sunday to prepare for his boxing fight with Errol Spence Jr. in August. Asked if the resolution was filed, one of Pacquiao’s staff members said, “We will update you about this.”
Guevarra said the TFAC can handle the investigation, without regard to the possible motives of the complainant or complainants.
Aside from the DOJ, the task force is composed of officials from the Office of the Ombudsman, Commission on Audit, Civil Service Commission, Office of the Executive Secretary, Office of the President, and the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission.
Last week, Guevarra said no corruption complaints against the DOH, particularly in its use of funds for the COVID-19 response, have reached the TFAC amid Pacquiao’s accusations.
Pacquiao earlier accepted President Duterte’s dare for him to expose corruption in government. He said among those he wanted investigated is the DOH, particularly its handling of multi-billion-peso procurements for the COVID-19 pandemic response.
On Saturday, Pacquiao claimed corruption also marred the distribution of social amelioration program (SAP) subsidies amid the COVID-19 pandemic through the use of e-wallets of Starpay Corp., a little-known company. He also said the DOE has given a private company – Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines – the power to become an independent electricity stock market operator.
Cusi, in a statement yesterday, said Pacquiao must show evidence. He also said the establishment of market operator IEMOP was in compliance with the EPIRA law.
Starpay, in a statement yesterday, said it is a “licensed electronic money issuer (EMI) regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.”
“The required capitalization to apply for an EMI license is P100 million, which we complied with in 2017 as a prerequisite by the BSP for any EMI license application. Senator Manny Pacquiao’s statement during his press conference that our current capitalization is P62,000 is incorrect, while the correct and accurate figures are easily verifiable with the Securities and Exchange Commission,” it said.
“We have already liquidated the funds given to us and have refunded the amount for the unserved beneficiaries through several checks that were issued to the Department of Social Welfare’s (DSWD) Land Bank account totaling to P8.239 billion, as also mentioned by DSWD in their 4th of July release,” it added. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
