MANILA, Philippines – The camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay turned the tables on administration standard-bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, citing the P7-billion unliquidated fund transfers of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) as “proof” of his poor management skills.

United Nationalist Alliance spokesperson Mon Ilagan on Thursday, March 17, said the DILG’s unliquidated fund transfers – accumulated when Roxas headed it – “speak volumes” of the former Cabiner official’s management abilities.

“Kahit sa mga projects na wala namang technical knowledge ang DILG, kinukuha nila. Ngayon, hirap sila mag-monitor at mag-liquidate (They even got projects where the DILG doesn’t have technical knowledge on. Now, they’re having difficulty monitoring and liquidating funds),” Ilagan said.

According to the 2013 Commission on Audit (COA) Annual Financial Report on the DILG, the department still has P7.040 billion unliquidated fund transfers “due to non-monitoring of liquidations and submission of financial reports.”

The unliquidated amount involved projects like the Provision of Potable Water program, the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan, the Bottom-Up Budgeting program, the Rehabilitation Assistsnce on Yolanda, and the Public Transport Assistance Program.

“This is an indication that the DILG failed to monitor the implementation of the projects,” the report said.

Roxas has been heavily criticized over government response in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) in 2013. The LP has also been accused of using the BUB, as well as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) to secure votes for Roxas.

The 2013 COA report also said that the DILG has P1.1 billion unliquidated cash advances “granted for local and foreign travels and for special purpose/time-bound undertakings.”

COA’s 2014 audit report on the DILG showed P17.097 million unliquidated cash advances to officers and employees; P5.54 million of this amount is from the DILG central office.

LP: Projects ongoing

Roxas’ spokesperson, Akbayan party-list Representative Barry Gutierrez  explained that the funds remain unliquidated as the DILG projects are still being implemented.

“All these funds are fully accounted for and the entire process is completely transparent,” he said.
 
“The entire amount has been downloaded to individual LGUs mainly as financial assistance for various BUB projects, and rehabilitation/reconstruction projects such as Bohol Earthquake Assistance and Recovery Assistance for Yolanda. Responsibility for liquidation is with now the LGUs,” Gutierrez added.

He then challenged Binay to instead focus on responding to the mounting corruption accusations against him.

“Now that we’ve given a full explanation of this issue, will VP Binay now be willing to give an equally clear and straightforward answer on the acts of corruption linked to him as thoroughly discussed in the Senate, Ombudsman, COA, and AMLC (Anti-Money Laundering Council) reports?” he said.

He was referring to Binay’s multiple allegations of corruption and unexplained wealth that was the subject of a Senate probe that stretched to more than a year.

Both the Ombudsman and COA found Binay, former Makati mayor, liable for graft and corruption for the alleged overpricing of the Makati City Hall Parking Building II. 

His son, dismissed Makati mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr, and other former city hall officials are face charges of graft and falsification of public documents before the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan in relation to the alleged anomalies in the city infrastructure project.

The Philippine Daly Inquirer recently reported that the findings of the AMLC that Binay allegedly used funds from Makati projects to finance his 2010 vice presidential bid. It also alleged that a law firm associated with Binay deposited P100 million to a Hong Kong-based company through remittance agency Philrem Service Corporation.

Philrem is linked to the biggest money laundering case recorded in Philippine history – $81 million stolen from Bangladesh Bank found its way into the Philippines’ banking system and ended in its casinos, which are not covered by the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

In the face of these allegations, the Binay camp challenged other presidential bets to let the AMLC examine their bank accounts, including those of their relatives and close associates. Among the candidates, however, the Vice President is the only one facing corruption allegations.

In 2015, the AMLC questioned why Binay’s then financial officer Gerardo “Gerry” Limlingan Jr, transferred “considerable amounts” of US dollars from the Philippines to Canada between 2008 and 2014, the time the controversial Makati City Hall Building II and the Makati Science High School were being built.

The Binay camp has accused the Ombudsman, the AMLC, the Inquirer, and other critics of an “orchestrated efforts” to derail their candidate’s presidential bid. He has filed a P200-million damage suit against them.

Binay used to top election polls but is now sharing the third spot with Roxas in the latest Pulse Asia survey commissioned by ABS-CBN. His camp, however, remains confident that the Vice President’s core voters and ground campaign would be enough to help him win. – Rappler.com