MANILA, Philippines – Anti-trafficking organization Visayan Forum (VF) vowed to move forward and continue its work after the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) stood by earlier claims that the group allegedly committed fraud when it “intentionally falsified and altered documents.”

“We will stand to continue our work. We want to move forward,” VF founding president and executive director Maria Cecilia Flores-Oebanda told Rappler in a phone call.

Responding to USAID’s statement, Oebanda said the group wanted to put the issue behind them as the case had been ongoing for more than 6 years.

She said VF had earlier expressed relief when it received official communication from USAID suspending and debarring official Clinton White in April 2018, informing the group it was never disbarred.

“We were so happy to know that after all the documents submitted, we received notice we were not disbarred,” she said.

“We received a statement from Clinton White that they are not doing anything at this point…I don’t know kung ano pang gagawin (what else needs to be done) because we’ve been waiting for 6 years already and we want to put this issue behind us,” Oebanda added. 

Despite informing VF it was never excluded from the list of qualified organizations that could receive aid, USAID said it continued to endorse the findings of its internal investigation.

“While that specific process did not result in a debarment because of other administrative circumstances, USAID stands by its finding that VFF violated USAID’s procurement policies through the intentional falsification and alteration of documents,” it said.

The group repeatedly said it had nothing to hide.

Before allegations of fraud surfaced in 2012, the Visayan Forum and USAID were longtime partners against human trafficking.

In 2016, the Department of Justice in the Philippines dismissed USAID’s case against the Visayan Forum due to lack of evidence. – Rappler.com