Haresco on fake SAROs: Why am I being singled out?

MANILA, Philippines – “I’m flabbergasted.”

This was the reaction of Aklan Representative Teodorico Haresco Jr to the recommendation of the National Bureau of Investigation to charge him and 4 others for falsifying fund release orders from the budget department. 

“I’m flabbergasted that out of some 32 representatives [allegedly involved], bigla na lang ako na lang nag-iisa (I was the only one being implicated), Haresco said Tuesday, February 11, in a press conference. 

A Philippine Daily Inquirer report on November 25 revealed an NBI investigation into a case of fake special allotment release orders (SAROs) released to mayors for P879 million worth of farm-to-market roads in Region II (Cagayan Valley). 

The investigation later revealed that fake SAROs were also released in other regions, and the case was a possible inside job at the Department of Budget and Management. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives chose not to conduct a formal probe into the case. 

Haresco said his office had no capability to produce such bogus documents – an operation which the lawmaker said would require a “gargantuan, Quiapo-style” task.

“For an office composed of working students, that’s unnatural, abnormal,” Haresco said. 

Letter from the congressman’s office

In a press release, the NBI said Haresco’s chief of staff, lawyer Norman Tayag, told investigators that the bogus SARO for farm-to-market roads in Region VI (Western Visayas) was endorsed by Haresco’s consultant, Mary Ann Castillo, one of those implicated in the scam. 

The NBI said it concluded that Castillo did not want to identify her source of the SARO after the following circumstances: 

“The Team made the following remarks: that on the second visit of AGD (Anti-Graft Division) investigators, CASTILLO claimed that the SARO came from someone who she was not familiar with, and the man just left the SARO and never returned; that CASTILLO was uneasy and hesistant to give any information concerning the person being asked of her; that her contract of employment terminated on 31 December 2013; and that when summoned, instead of giving a statement, she submitted a notarized affidavit, and turned down the request to be further interviewed.”

Meanwhile, a scrutiny of documents at the Department of Agriculture (DA) showed that Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala received a letter from Haresco’s office with the SARO in question attached in October 2013. In his affidavit, Tayag admitted that Haresco’s office prepared the letter and sent it to DA.

‘Why am I criminally liable?’

According to Haresco, Castillo only received the fake SARO through a messenger. Castillo is no longer connected with Haresco’s office.  

His office now has possession of both the fake and genuine SAROs for the agricultural funds. Haresco said the lawmaker’s office received the fake SARO from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) in October 2013 while the original document from DA’s Western Visayas regional unit was sent in January 2014. 

“Why am I criminally liable for something that I do not make? For something that I allegedly produced? What’s my benefit there?” Haresco said.  

The NBI said Haresco was implicated over the basis that “the legal presumption that the person who presented a falsified document is deemed to be the author, if he stands to benefit therefrom arises.” 

Haresco’s district would be the beneficiary of the funds to be released through the fake SARO, the NBI said. 

The NBI said investigators also discovered the existence of a “well-entrenched syndicate in the DBM, and the operation of this syndicate extends to the halls of the Congress.”

Aside from Haresco and Castillo, the NBI also recommend the filing of charges against: 

• Emmanuel Raza, a congressional staff of Zamboanga City Congresswoman Lilia Macruhon-Nuño
• Elvie Rafael, driver of DBM Undersecretary Mario Relampagos
• Bhernie Beltan, allegedly from the DBM

Haresco wants the NBI to re-investigate the case. 

“I was never invited to give my statement, but suddenly I’m the one now being charged,” he said. 

Haresco was also tagged in a recently-released Commission on Audit report as one of the lawmakers who channeled funds to dubious non-governmental organizations through Philippine Forest Corporation. – Rappler.com