MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 12, 2013) – The House minority bloc has renewed its pitch for a legislative inquiry on the alleged looting of some P10-billion worth of congressional Priority Assistance Development Fund or PDAF allocations by a network of phony nongovernmental organizations.
“We cannot wash our hands of this supposed shameless plunder of public funds. We in Congress are duty-bound not only to oversee those who administer the laws that we enact, but also to keep an eye on the spending of the money that we appropriate,” Deputy Minority Leader Rep. Arnel Ty said in a statement sent to Mindanao Examiner.
House Minority Leader and San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora and 17 other lawmakers , including Ty, earlier filed Resolution 160, urging a joint inquiry by the committee on good government and public accountability and the committee on ethics and privileges, on the purported embezzlement of PDAF allotments.
“The congressional powers of investigation should be brought to bear in this case, particularly in obtaining vital information that will hopefully enable the Department of Justice, possibly even the Office of the Ombudsman, to take all the necessary legal actions,” Ty said.
Ty pointed out that an authorized House inquiry has the power to compel witnesses to testify.
“This power to punish (for contempt) witnesses who may refuse to provide testimonial evidence can be very helpful in a fact-finding inquiry,” he said. “All of the State’s investigative resources should be out in full force and put to good use here.”
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte earlier said that before the House steps in, the National Bureau of Investigation should first be allowed to conclude its investigation, along with the Commission on Audit, which has a separate inquiry.
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