A group of 18 lawyers and Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) will not waste precious time and effort studying 10 kilos of documents from the Commission on Audit (CoA) if they were faked.
This was the statement of former Davao City Mayor Benjamin de Guzman amid rumors being peddled by Mayor Rodrigo Duterte that the voluminous CoA report showing anomalies in the Duterte-Duterte administration are not authentic.
On television at weekend, De Guzman showed the heavy pile of documents from the audit commission. He said lawyers and CPAs discovered that at least P2.9-billion of properties and equipment of the city government could not be accounted for.
“The Duterte-Duterte administration should answer for these (missing city properties),” said De Guzman in the pilot television broadcast of Kalamboan Dala Tanan hosted by Atty. Karlo Nograles.
The episode also featured businesswoman and civic leader Joji Ilagan Bian, Team Nograles congressional bet in District 2. “Businessmen are truly alarmed over this report from CoA that P2.9-billion in assets of the city government are missing,” Bian said in the television program that have replays on Skycable Channel (Monday to Friday, 8:30 pm), NBN Channel 11 (Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m.) and SBN Channel (Monday to Friday, 9:00 p.m.).
Karlo, Team Nograles congressional bet for District 1, confirmed during the television program that lawyers-accountants of Team Nograles are deep into study what charges could be stem out from the irregularities. He revealed that some lawyers are in the opinion that plunder charges are possible.
Plunder, according to Karlo, is committed by any public officer who, by himself or in connivance with members of his family, relatives by affinity or consanguinity, business associates, subordinates or other persons, amasses, accumulates or acquires ill-gotten wealth through a combination or series of overt or criminal acts, in the aggregate amount or total value of at least fifty million pesos (P50,000,000.00).
A lawyer, Karlo pointed out any person found guilty of the crime of plunder shall be punished by life imprisonment with perpetual absolute disqualification from holding any public office.
“Any person who participated with the said public officer in the commission of plunder shall likewise be punished. In the imposition of penalties, the degree of participation and the attendance of mitigating and extenuating circumstances shall be considered by the court. The court shall declare any and all ill-gotten wealth and their interests and other incomes and assets including the properties and shares of stocks derived from the deposit or investment thereof forfeited in favor of the State,” he added.
Karlo said lawyers-CPAs first noted that that for the fiscal report ending December 31, 2003, some P291-million in equipment and properties of the city government could not be accounted for. At the end of fiscal year 2004, the missing assets were valued at P280-million. At the end of fiscal year 2005, recorded as unaccounted under the same account were at P462-million. Over 2006 and 2007, CoA discovered that missing properties and equipment reached a mind-boggling amount of P2.9-billion.
Karlo revealed that Team Nograles had already secured the audit report for fiscal year ending 2008 “and the same anomalies could be found there.”
Some of the items listed under the missing account, according to Karlo, are land and land improvements, office buildings, school buildings, hospitals and health centers, other structures, leasehold improvements, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, IT equipment and software, library books, machineries, communication equipment, construction and heavy equipment, medical, dental and laboratory equipment, military and police equipment, technical and scientific equipment, other machineries and equipment and motor equipment.
“What are these?” De Guzman, who is contesting Duterte for the vice mayoral seat in the May 10 elections, asked. “Are these ghost purchases and equipment?” |
