Audit sought for military’s P197M election budget in 2004
By Jonathan de Santos
August 22, 2011
A MILITANT lawmaker on Sunday proposed an audit on the P197 million budget the Commission on Elections (Comelec) gave the military during 2004 elections.
The money, mentioned in a recently declassified report on allegations of cheating in the 2004 Presidential elections, has not been accounted for, Bayan Muna party-list Representative Teodoro Casiño said.
“First, we have to know why and how Comelec gave the P197 million to the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) to spend in the 2004 elections and where the funds came from,” he said.
The money was allegedly sent to Task Force Hope (Honest, Orderly, Peaceful Elections), a joint Comelec-AFP initiative.
But the Mayuga report, named after former Navy vice admiral Mateo Mayuga, indicates the money was not liquidated. Casiño said the release of the money appears questionable. He said that according to the report, P101 million of that money went into an “intelligence project” that has yet to be accounted for.
Accounting should have been done by former Presidential Management Staff chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr., who was budget officer for Task Force Hope. But Esperon told the Mayuga Commission–composed of Mayuga and four other senior military officers–that since the task force had been deactivated after the elections, liquidation was the job of the AFP comptroller’s office.
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Arevalo, chief of the comptroller’s office, told the commission that he did not know where Task Force Hope got funding and where the money went. He said Comelec, and not the AFP, had to account for the money.
“It was like they were passing the buck on accounting. Again, this was ignored by the Mayuga Commission even as it appeared obvious that there was really no accounting,” Casiño said.
Casiño also cited testimonies from the Mayuga report of field commanders receiving money without having to account for how it was spent. Officers from the Philippine Marines testified to getting from P50,000 to P100,000 without having to submit expenditure reports.
“Is this the common practice of the AFP?” he said.
Bayan Muna has called for a House investigation into allegations of fraud in the 2004 and 2007 elections, while Ako Bicol, another party-list group, wants the House of Representatives to hold a probe on the report. Ako Bicol Representative Rodel Batocabe wants at least four military officers who testified to the Mayuga Commission to appear before the House.
He said the report has raised more questions than answers. “I strongly support that Congress should be the one to finish and answer these questions.”
“It is really imperative that the House probe on the Mayuga report to be started immediately and the COA conduct a special audit on the election funds handled by Gen. Esperon in 2004,” Casiño said.
A joint committee of the Comelec and the Justice department formed to investigate alleged poll fraud in past elections will review the Mayuga report. The Department of National Defense, to which the AFP is attached, will also “study” the report, Malacañang has said. (Sunnex)
Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/08/21/audit-sought-militarys-p197m-election-budget-2004-174465
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