MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 1, 2013) – A youth group called Anakbayan has released a supposed list of the members of the party list group Akbayan, an ally of President Benigno Aquino, in the National Anti-Poverty Commission, holding sensitive positions in the government agency, with some being in charge of the distribution of the controversial coconut levy funds.
Acting on confidential tips from disgruntled NAPC employees, Anakbayan have so far unearthed 9 Akbayan and affiliate leaders among the 149 contractual and part-time employees of the agency, and among them were lawyers.
“This confirms what coconut farmers and peasant groups have been saying all along that Akbayan is out to hijack part of the coco levy fund for their 2013 election campaign and other nefarious purposes,” Vencer Crisostomo, national chairperson of Anakbayan, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
“We cannot blame the farmers for demanding that the coco levy funds be given directly to them, instead of passing through the corrupt hands of President Aquino’s favorite party list group,” he said.
According to Crisostomo, the tipsters were inspired after last year’s efforts to disqualify Akbayan from the 2013 party list race included an exposition in the irregular practice of hiring 100 contractual personnel, including 19 consultants.
He said no less than the Commission on Audit questioned the expenditure of P27.97 million in salaries for the said employees for 2011. This was the biggest item in the NAPC’s budget for the said year, he said.
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