Despite President Duterte’s own admission that there remains no “hard evidence” on their reported links to public works anomalies, lawmakers on Tuesday vehemently denied any participation in allegations of graft in the implementation of infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Addressing the nation on Monday, Duterte disclosed that a report submitted by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) named the following lawmakers as being the object of graft investigation: Representatives Angelina Tan (NPC, Quezon); Josephine Ramirez Sato (LP, Occidental Mindoro); Alfred Vargas (PDP-Laban, Quezon City); Henry Oaminal (NUP, Misamis Occidental); Alyssa Tan (NP, Isabela); Paul Daza (NUP, Northern Samar); Geraldine Roman (PDP-Laban, Bataan) and Eric Go Yap (ACT CIS Partylist).
Former Ifugao Rep. Teddy Brawner Baguilat, a Liberal Party stalwart, was also mentioned by Duterte as being included in the PACC report.
In a press statement, Tan described the accusation against her relative to the implementation of the Gumaca Bypass Road as “baseless”.
“I had been diligent in ensuring that the project—from its conception to the release of funds—went through its proper course, making sure that the project will directly benefit my constituents and the neighboring provinces,” she said.
The lawmaker chided the PACC for implicating her in the supposedly anomalous project stressing that she was unfairly accused “despite the lack of evidence”
“The inclusion of my name in the report released by the PACC, despite the lack of evidence, is not only malicious but also prejudicial, especially that the issue involves alleged corruption and conspiracy with DPWH,” Tan said.
Tan, chairperson of the House Committee on Health, is the wife of DPWH Regional Director Ronnel Tan who was reported to have allegedly thrown cash into the air for guests attending a party at the couple’s residence in Quezon.
The Tan couple is facing a graft complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman that was filed by Lopez town Councilor Arkie Manuel Yulde in connection with alleged “ostentatious display of wealth,” among other allegations.
Yulde had also asked the Department of Justice Task Force Against Corruption to investigate the Tan couple in connection with allegations that a family-owned hospital benefited from the highly questionable interim reimbursement mechanism implemented by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
Rep. Tan’s name was mentioned in the PACC report in connection with the alleged “anomalous project in Quezon province” which Dutete said has not been “open for public use and was already broken at the onset of storm.”
In his statement, Vargas noted that the president confessed that there remains “no solid evidence” against the lawmakers mentioned by President on Monday nighyt.
“I am certain that I will be cleared,” the actor-turned-lawmaker said.
Said Vargas: “I am ready to submit myself to an investigation by the proper authority. Mere allegation is not proof.”
Sato also took exception to the PACC report as she decried it as “baseless”
“I am devastated! This has no basis and grossly unfair! I do not have any involvement in any corruption!” stated Sato.
She accused PACC Commissioner Greco Belgica of partisanship, pointing out that he is a “known ally and partymate” of an incumbent official in Occidental Mindoro who will likely face her in the 2022 local election.
“The report made by Commissioner Belgica which impinges on my credentials as a public servant is clearly calculated to sow intrigue and disruption in the local politics of Occidental Mindoro,” Sato stated.
Meanwhile, Yap said Belgica was clearly taking it “personal’ by accusing the solon of involvement in graft-ridden deals for infrastructure projects in the lone congressional district of Benguet.
Yap, it will be recalled, had called out Belgica for declaring publicly that lawmakers are involved in DPWH corruption without identifying the solons involved and worse, without specifying any evidence to back up the accusation.
Yap is the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations and caretaker of the lone congressional district of Benguet. He is known to be a close friend of Davao City Rep. Paulo Duterte, eldest son of President Duterte.