Commission on Audit bombshell

Today’s movie quote comes from the film, Casablanca:

Rick: How can you close me up? On what grounds?
Captain Renault: I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.
[aloud]
Captain Renault: Everybody out at once!

And so, shocked, shocked was she to find that bribery is going on in here! That an ‘Upset’ Arroyo orders probe of Palace ‘bribery’.

The problem is, that the Palace’s own allies are compounding the problem. If the There’s the Hamlet-like agonizing of Rep. Antonio Cuenco – Arroyo ally torn between telling truth, hurting her– isn’t bad enough, then there’s this: Arroyo present during cash distribution–Manila solon although in a major clarification to a major error, it turns out (CORRECTED) Arroyo wasn’t present, says Manila solon:

full statement of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company and one of the content providers of INQUIRER.net, follows:

“The Philippine Daily Inquirer deeply regrets that it inadvertently reported in today’s issue that Rep. Bienvenido Abante said President Macapagal-Arroyo was present during the distribution of cash handouts to politicians last Thursday. Abante had actually said the President was not present.

“The Inquirer sincerely apologizes for the error.

“We are looking into the matter to ensure that no similar errors occur in the future.”

Even Ramos denies giving gifts to Atienza, solons and the Inquirer editorial says these recent revelations act as indirect confirmation of past testimony. The whole thing’s so squalid that poor Bong Austero has to point out,

I am not saying that what happened last week was justifiable. I am not saying we should condone it. All I am saying is that there is context around it. This culture of political patronage has been around for quite some time and will continue to be around for as long as voters continue to hound their elected leaders for all kinds of assistance.

What made what happened last week galling was the brazenness and shamelessness of it all. In short, bastusan at garapalan na talaga.

Which may be why up-to-now loyal allies of the President are beginning to publicly discuss whether to spill the beans or not (like Cuenco). This can only send the Speaker’s sensitive political antennae quivering. Newsstand is far more inclined to caution than I am, and yet he has begun to wonder,

Now, on dzMM’s TeleRadyo, I see Speaker de Venecia announcing that, as he had promised last night, he had written an appeal to President Arroyo, calling on her to start a “moral revolution.” She can start, he said, by firing some of her Cabinet members.

This, it seems to me, could very well be the signal to start (open) hostilities.

What does this mean? It means, just possibly, that JDV has seen the same thing as the opposition leader did, and has decided to go down fighting.

See De Venecia calls on Arroyo to set up new administration.

I can’t help but recall, as I recently recalled in Jose De Venecia’s Last Stand (essentially reprinting my August 29, 2005 Inquirer column, which, unfortunately, is no longer available on line), that the possibility, even probability, of a parting of ways between the Speaker and the President was something I saw coming even back then, and was of course trying to encourage. A paper published in 2006, Constitutional Reform in the Philippines: Out of Crisis, What? by Joel Rocamora very kindly quoted a portion of my column:

In the great division of our people that took place in recent months, it was the speaker who put foot soldiers, so to speak, at the command of former President Ramos when he decided to support the president. In truth, what Ramos possessed at the time was an impeccable sense of timing, and a residual prestige. It would depend on the speaker, however, to hold the line, and man the trenches in what has become a political battle of attrition, with loyal troops and efficient lieutenants.

But the I-told-you-so part I’d like to point out is this:

In fighting for her political life, the president nailed not hers, but Ramos’ and De Venecia’s colors to the mast, and proceeded to continue sailing the ship in the direction of enemy fire. Furthermore, she has tied both Ramos and the speaker to the mast, which means it is they who are getting shot at, while the president continues to command the show from the comfort of her cabin.

While Ramos has already done all he can do – you can only throw your support behind someone once — the speaker is still being called upon to marshal the troops in the House, and for what? Whatever their view about the president, the majority of the public wants the impeachment process to continue. The speaker might have been able to justify fighting “creeping impeachment” by “stealthily railroading” the throwing out of the impeachment, but the unpopularity both of himself and his parliamentary cause would only be worth it if the president did her part by gambling big on achieving constitutional change. She has done the opposite: She has gambled small, and it may be her real bet is on herself.

And at the end of the day, perhaps he’s taken heart from realizing (see De Venecia can only be replaced if he agrees–solon: Speakership only for Lakas, he says) that even at the age of 70, he could just possibly get a new lease on political life if he remains the party chief. At a time when his party has begun to publicly fret about its association with the President.

But this, I think, will be the story primed to hog the headlines over the next few days: Palace misused charity funds, gave loans sans records – COA. The report details the findings of a Commission on Audit annual audit of the Office of the President.

In particular, this section of this story:

In 2006, COA said the Office of the President received “from various sources” donations totaling P65,413,463.79 or P65 million, for the following purposes:

‘ Donation for the Southern Leyte landslide, P7.1 million
‘ Donation for Socio-Economic Projects of the President, P35.6 million
‘ Donation for Typhoon Milenyo victims, P2.7 million
‘ Donation for the relief and rehabilitation of affected areas in Albay province, P20 million.

COA’s adverse finding follows: “We noted, however, that out of the actual expenses incurred totaling P64,079,173.40 from the donations, expenses totaling P8,807.621.75 could not be identified with any of the purposes of the donations.”

According to COA, Malacanang had reported using the donations thus:

‘ Burial expenses, P795,000
‘ Hotel Expenses, P815,380.15
‘ Maintenance of the Malacanang Golf Course, P900,000
‘ Summit Conferences/General Assembly, P2,295,241.60
‘ Donation to Foundation, P4,000,000

These expenses “out of the purposes of the donations are contrary to Section 13 of the General Provisions of the General Appropriations Act of 2005,” which stipulates that “donations, whether in cash or kind, shall be deemed automatically appropriated for the purpose specified by the donor.”

The golf course and unnamed foundation donations in particular, are primed for heavy political play. The full report can be found online, supposedly, at the Commission on Audit website but when I tried going there, it was under construction. A source familiar with government accounting practices sent me a cautionary note, however:

Just a word of caution on interpreting the findings, it is common practice among government agencies that the findings are first discussed with management before they are actually published. These findings are therefore expected by government. Also, COA can only recommend and most of the time their recommendations are not followed.

Uniffors reports on the rumor mill.

Meanwhile, Senators revive call on Gloria to resign: a case of jumping the gun? What surprises me is that Senator Pangilinan has taken the lead in an issue. And Bypassed Cabinet members reappointed. Tick tock for the armed forces brass: High Court gives CA green light to require disclosure of Burgos report.

This article should be required reading for Filipinos in the IT sector: India’s IT Sector Needs to Reboot.

Part 1 and Part 2 of my column for this week, were on Mabini’s independence blueprint.

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Manuel L. Quezon III.

282 thoughts on “Commission on Audit bombshell

  1. Mlq3,

    Expect Gloria to come out fighting, “Who me? Never ever dipped my hands in no donations other than to use them for what they were intended for. Panlilio is lying, the Bulacan gov is lying! All those congressmen were lying! I never lie, I necer cheat, I never steal! CoA is lying…”

    Or perhaps she may do a repeat of the famous Hello Garci TV show, “I’m sorry, t’was a lapse of judgement. Let’s move on…”

  2. Really no matter how one tries to be level headed about this cash in bags thinggy, there are just too many coincidences – one too many. And now the CoA report…

    Anyway, if the bags of cash weren’t intended as bribes, the recipients would’ve been told what they were meant for and asked to sign receipts accordingly and recorded accordingly in the books. Simple thing to do. Just follow the rules. Why should this be too difficult to do?

  3. Of course, many will say “Where’s your proof that Gloria was responsible for the bribe or that she even knew that bribery was taking place under her very nose?”

    Yeah, yeah! I guess Reps Cuenco and Abante and Sec Atienza and all the other nig nogs who were all pro-Arroyos suddenly became Gloria Arroyo haters and they all squealed.

    To me, a bribe is a bribe is a bribe. Full stop! But that’s just me.

    OK, let’s give her the benefit of the doubt… maybe Malacanang has a different way of looking at bags of cash distributed around in Malacanang following breakfast meetings. Maybe the bags came from Mike or Iggy Arroyo’s inheritance after all didn’t they say they were rich, that they owned Marikina and the lands stretching from wherever to as far as their eyes could see? Maybe they decided to be philantrophical all of a sudden.

    Maybe they weren’t bribes, yeah, let’s accept that they were just gifts for those Congressmen and their families…

  4. Dinapinoy,

    Nah, they’re just stinkbombs, nothing lethal, certainly nothing Gloria can’t wiggle herself out of. (Your belief in the Pinoy inability to do anything right remains absolutely intact.)

  5. nice one DinaPinoy. 🙂

    again, i say, be on the lookout for something else going on. something big. because if what’s going on right now is so earth-shattering, what about the things that Empress Palpakqueen and her ilk are hiding from us?

  6. Gentle Reminder from the Past…

    Gloria:

    “I have sat at the sumptuous tables of power, but I have not run away with the silverware.”
    Diosdado Macapagal

  7. Most of the owners of capital in the Philippines could not care less about what is going on. Their assets are all appreciating in terms of dollars. JDV Jr. and his Queen will have to fight this on their own. He is far far from being a Cromwellian type of guy.

    The inflows and the depreciation of the dollar is proving to be a boon for them. Let the good times role. Rey ‘the magician’ Tetangco is starting to talk the Greenspanspeak.

    After declaring their expertise in maintaining economic fundamentals the magician is now saying that there is too much money coming in and it has no place to go but to inflate assets (Equity and bond markets) since we do not have enough to go around. Big Mike and GMA could give him tips on how to spread the good cheer instead of tying up the country with loans from China. But that is another story altogether. Let loose that exchange rate and you could see Php 35 to $ 1 by the end of December. Keep selling dollars people.

    “Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said the BSP would have to continue its mopping up activity until the economy grows enough to build up absorptive capacity.”

    “The BSP eased its policy rates by 25 basis points earlier this month but kept its special deposit account (SDA) facility open to keep siphoning off excess liquidity in the wake of strong foreign exchange inflows.”

    “There is a timing mismatch here,” Tetangco explained. “Inflows come into the country but absorption takes time. The economy would have to build up the capacity to do this.”

    “In the meantime, Tetangco said the BSP would have to manage the impact of these inflows on domestic liquidity. “That’s why we are mopping up,” he said.” The Philippine Star

  8. scenario….

    act I

    scene 1: jdv asked arroyo to set up new admin
    Sceen 2: bag-o-cash, bribery in the palace
    sceen 3: palace misused funds – COA

    act II
    .
    .
    .
    .

    finale

    new admin

    alternate ending – gloria resigns, fvr group comes in.

  9. food for thought……

    consider this: GMA is exposing the dirty linen of her officials to create a scenario of total graft in her administration, which, again, would be used to justify extra powers. due to these bombshells comes a time when GMA would announce a “clean-up” of the Cabinet and a renewed anti-graft campaign. Such a campaign would need more powers, which, under the circumstances, justifies Congress to grant her that.

  10. “Trick or treat,smell my feet,Give me something to eat!”

    Halloween came early in Malacanang.It was just “Trick or Treat time!

    The begging congressmen and governors got their brown bags of moolah from Her Highness.

  11. truly, a bribe is a bribe is a bribery. in addition, art. 211 of the revised penal code penalizes “any public officer who shall accept gifts offered to him by reason of his office.” the law cites no conditions for the acceptance.
    furthermore, pd no. 46 (68 o.g. 9064-b) penalizes “any public official or employee, whether of the national or local governments, to receive, directly or indirectly, and for private persons to give, or offer to give, any gift, present or other valuable thing on any occasion, including Christmas, when such gift, present or other valuable thing is given by reason of his official position, regardless of whether or not the same is for past favor or favors or the giver hopes or expects to receive a favor or better treatment in the future from the public official or employee concerned in the discharge of his official functions.
    the laws are glaringly clear – the giving of cash “gifts” to public officials in malacanang is punishable even if no conditions are attached. the acting doj secretary and gma apologists are wrong, wittingly or unwittingly.

  12. Is everybody jumping ship? Think about it, if JDV is against Gloria, then people who have been hiding their ill will to a corrupt president may be finding courage now with aother powerful personage on their side.

  13. Dinapinoy,

    Re “Such a campaign would need more powers, which, under the circumstances, justifies Congress to grant her that.”

    Makes sense if you add what Maj Gen Dolorfino is saying that the bribery scandal might lead to a civil war. Yeah, we just might see her implementing the supermaid cleaning program here or when the pressure becomes unbearable – super powers a.k.a. emergency rule?

  14. gibraltar,

    Is that so? Aha!

    Makes one wonder that if there are these rules, why not simply follow the rules? Maybe Malacanang folks believe they are above the rules?

    Would be so much simpler to follow the rules.

  15. I have little sympathy for Gloria.But I am really amazed at her propensity to open the political floodgates with wave upon wave of self-inflicted wounds like the the bribery attempt on Cong Beltran for the impeachment case,bribery of congressmen and now bribery of governors !

    Can somebody tell me where this addiction to self-inflicted wounds of Gloria comes from? also,why always bribery?

  16. “And a gentle reminder of what he forgot to say too: “But my daughter will run away with the china…MBW”

    Touché

  17. “According to the Speaker, whose longtime relations with the President have been severely strained, what is needed is “a new government made up of competent men with integrity.”- By Norman Bordadora Inquirer

    Tha speaker is simply telling GMA in effect,” your men are incompetent and corrupt, fire them”…

    JDV, simply can’t get it, GMA cannot fire them, they know too much, they are the ones who are in the position to “fire” her, JDV, must remember that these men/women are just waiting on the wings, the moment they feel that the ship is going to sink, they will beat everyone to the punch and do a “Chavit” (a state witness).

    Mr. Speaker, you don’t change the crew when the ship is sinking, you tell GMA “abandon ship”.
    Well, I don’t know, the Speaker is not known to be a decisive general, he’s known to be a poker player, bluff…bluff…bluff…bluff

  18. ” And a gentle reminder of what he forgot to say too: “But my daughter will run away with the china…”-MBW

    …and the table cloth too.

  19. “Mr. Speaker, you don’t change the crew when the ship is sinking, you tell GMA “abandon ship”.QWERT”

    Prediction:Faster than a crack whore pouncing on a twenty-dollar bill, the GMA rats will abandon the sinking ship. Watch Mr.Esperon,he will try to an “Angie Reyes act” to reserve a seat in the next govt.

  20. GLORIA

    Tandaan mo,

    “ang batang swapang at sinungaling ay d tatangkad,uusli ang ngipin, at mananatiling unano!”-Diosdado Macapagal

  21. “Bishop Bacani said that Filipinos have their own way of dismissing the President from their lives. “They just take her lightly, make her of little consequence, a laughing matter,” he said. – GMANews.TV”

    The people will have their last laugh!

  22. “The truth is I am cute and short but I am above gossip.”
    Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
    President,Republic of the Phlippines

  23. “Can somebody tell me where this addiction to self-inflicted wounds of Gloria comes from? also,why always bribery?”

    Bribery? Cynicism. No respect for her fellow men. She surrounds herself with people without pride or integrity. Why these series of blunders. If she were a serial killer, you can interpret this as a cry for help. She wants to get caught.

  24. “Abante said Ms Arroyo herself was present during the distribution of cash.”- Inquirer report

    “Abante confirmed receiving P500,000 but maintained that he never said that the President was present when the money was distributed during a breakfast meeting in Malacañang. The Oct. 11 meeting attended by 190 congressmen was hosted by Mrs. Arroyo.” -abs-cbnnews

    Congressman Benny Abante, what happened? This is a cha-cha move, ” atras-abante, atras-abante”

    A poem to ponder:

    Benny, Benny, miny, moe
    Catch a briber by the toe
    If she hollers let her go,
    Benny, Benny, miny, moe.

  25. Then:(1986)

    “AFP to stand behind the President”

    “General Ver and the other generals left General Ramas at the Fort and rushed to Malacañang to stand behind Marcos during a televised press conference at the height of the EDSA uprising. February 1986.”

    Now:(2007)

    “The AFP will stand behind President”

    “Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. affirmed on Thursday, as he dismissed talk of grumblings within the ranks over bribery allegations against her.

    “I can say categorically that the Armed Forces is solid and united behind the chain of command and these political issues will not affect their duties and responsibilities,” Teodoro said. INQUIRER”

  26. “Bribery? Cynicism. No respect for her fellow men. She surrounds herself with people without pride or integrity. Why these series of blunders. If she were a serial killer, you can interpret this as a cry for help. She wants to get caught.BRIAN”

    Makes sense to me!

  27. Equalizer,

    With the rising tide of awareness and displeasure (putting it mildly as not all of us dislike GMA) over GMA and her administration, it is to our benefit now and in the future that the military do not have a hand in this. They must at all times be shielded from being politicised, as we have to learn from the past, the military is a double edged sword, it can be used to preserve our democracy or destroy it depending on who wields it. So it is imperative that they adhere to the chain of command no matter what, if it comes to a point where they have to choose between shooting civilians or disobeying orders, we’ll cross the bridge if we get there. Even then, we’ll go after the officers who issued “shoot” orders…

  28. There was no misuse of those donations.

    Gloria and Mike were about to tee off at the Malacanan golf course a day after Millenyo destroyed the golf course.

    Mike saw the destruction and said, “Que calamidad!”

    The rest is COA history.

  29. Expected Posting in WikiPedia one day:

    Palace “trick-or-treating“, is also known as Bribery at times. It’s an activity for congressmen and local officials whenever they are summoned to the Palace. They proceed like begging children from room to room in the Palace in costumes, asking for treats such as brown bags reportedly with moolah with the question, “Trick or treat?”, or the phrase “Happy Impeach Me!”.

    Trick-or-treating is one of the main traditions of the palace. It has become socially expected that if one lives in the Palace by the Pasig ,a neighborhood frequented by begging congressmen, one should prepare the brown money bag as treats in preparation for the trick-or-treaters.

  30. “So it is imperative that they adhere to the chain of command no matter what, if it comes to a point where they have to choose between shooting civilians or disobeying orders, we’ll cross the bridge if we get there. Even then, we’ll go after the officers who issued “shoot” orders… RAMROD”

    That’s the big difference between the FILIPINO SOLDIER and those crazy MYANMAR soldiers who shot at unarmed monks and civilians in Burma.

    The Filipino Soldier is FOR the PEOPLE!

  31. “They must at all times be shielded from being politicised, as we have to learn from the past, the military is a double edged sword, it can be used to preserve our democracy or destroy it depending on who wields it” – ramrod

    Ram,
    I want to make myself clear on this, I don’t want the military to intervene in the political affairs of our country because it will create more problems beyond GMA or any president for that matter, but there are realities that are beyond our control. Before shielding them from being politicized, we must make sure that thay are not at the moment politicized. “As we have to learn from the past” – I think that past is the present.

  32. The ULTIMATE SPIN from The Spin Doctor!!!

    Puno: Money came from JDV’s office not Malacañang

    “Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno on Thursday absolved Malacañang from bribery allegations using as basis recent statements of some members of the House of Representatives that the money they received inside the palace compound came from the office of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.

    A radio dzMM report said Puno suggested that the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission’s (PAGC) investigation should focus on the congressmen and not on Malacañang officials present during President Arroyo’s breakfast meeting last October 11.

    Puno however did not say why funds from the House Speaker’s office were distributed in Malacañang.ABS CBN NEWS”

  33. What about the money given to Governor Panlilio of Pampanga and Governor Mendoza of Bulacan,still from JDV’s office?

  34. Expect more spins on this COA report.

    What a spectacle. All the spins the past few days. It’s breathtaking. But Puno outspins them all. The guy spins like a ballerina. On a bright sunny day the guy can spit in your face and tell you it was just the rain.

    And he says Gloria got angry and was hurt with all of the accusations of bribery the past few days. I think she got mad because all her spinners couldn’t spin one coordinated web. They got themselves contradicting each other. The web got so entangled, it was impossible to unravel. Their various versions are not just getting ridiculous, it is getting funnier and funnier by the hour.

  35. “Their various versions are not just getting ridiculous, it is getting funnier and funnier by the hour.”

    Not really. People are starting to believe them.
    My point is we must be proactive. Seize the moment. Dont let us bask on thier mistakes. They might be able to recover. Strike while the iron is hot. Attack while the enemy is weak.

  36. Okay na sana yun sinabi ni JDV but he had to add that if Gloria were to get rid of her evil minions she could become the greatest president ever.

    Eh di para na din sinabi niya na if Satan would only get rid of his minions he could become an archangel.

  37. Iggy Arroyo will admit that he gave the money to congressmen and governors. But they were not bribes or early Christmas gifts. They were dividends from the Pidal Foundation’s investments in ZTE and Nuctech.

  38. Expect more spins on this COA report.

    What a spectacle. All the spins the past few days. It’s breathtaking

    That’s government accounting for you. It takes time before all the monies that are charged to cash advances are not liquidated per books because of the flow of documents.

    Even FVR had lots of unliquidated advances after his administration.

    I just had a laugh reading the news article. Kahit ba naman deprection ng assets, kasalanan ni Gloria. Sus?

    Don’t you know that there are assets in the balance sheet of the Republic of the Philippines which are still carried in the account that have already been discarded or kaya pinatutubuan na ng talaba.

    It is the government accounting system, sir, where the per books and and the actual would not meet. We call it TIMING DIFFERENCE.

  39. Some news dailies,I suspect are closet defenders of GMA. They seem to muddle the issue which actually benefits GMA. After all, didn’t those papers at the forefront of EDSA 2 forces. They are all anti-Erap so it is very hard for them to admit that they committed mistakes.

  40. CaT,
    I’m not an accountant so could you please help me understand what the connection is between “TIMING DIFFERENCE” and “SPENDING DONATIONS FOR PURPOSES NOT INTENDED BY THE DONORS”?

  41. fbelow:

    i think so too, because heck, these newspapers can’t ever be wrong about anything now, can they? 😛

  42. The nerve of some people, I overheard Ka Totoy (on TV) last night and he was questioning Ed Panlilio’s motive, why it took him 2 days to come out in the open and not immediately in Malacanang (of course he might get mobbed if he made a raucus there) and this guy Johnny Midnight of RJ TV also had the same sentiments for Panlilio and those who admitted receiving money.
    Sometimes I think we live in two realities if I listen to these people, the stench is there, people have admitted, the pattern of deceit is so obvious, what further proof do they need? I wanted to call this Johhny Midnight and ask him what planet he is broadcasting from? UR ANUS?

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