The Task Force Against Corruption (TFAC) has received a total of 144 complaints concerning anomalies in a number of government agencies, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Thursday.
“As of Jan. 11, 2021, the task force had received 144 complaints and had evaluated 60, mostly involving alleged anomalies in public works projects in the regions,” Guevarra said.
These four corrupt activities being investigated are the alleged massive corruption at the first district engineering office in Northern Samar; alleged ghost deliveries of rice and fuel in Capalonga, Camarines Norte; alleged anomalous procurement of heavy equipment and illegal disbursement of Bayanihan funds in Cateel, Davao Oriental; and alleged irregular bidding, bribery, and extortion at the third district engineering office in Cagayan.
“The amount of funds involved ranges from a few million pesos to hundreds of million pesos,” Guevarra said.
The secretary explained “if the amount involved is P500 million or more, the TFAC will create a special investigating team composed of representatives from the member-agencies.”
Aside from the Department of Justice (DOJ), the TFAC is composed of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Office of the Special Assistant to the President (OSAP), the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), the National Prosecution Service (NPS), the DOJ’s Office of Cybercrime (OOC), and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).
Meanwhile, Guevarra said the TFAC is set to receive from the PACC its report to Malacanang concerning lawmakers allegedly receiving kickbacks from construction projects.
“The Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission expressed its desire to turn over to the TFAC its probe on corruption in public works projects where certain members of the House of Representatives (HOR) were implicated, for further investigation and case build-up,” the Justice Secretary said.
Guevarra said the TFAC also “welcomed the offer of the HOR Blue Ribbon Committee to help in investigations where legislative action may be needed.”
During a televised public address last Dec. 28, President Duterte named nine former and current lawmakers in the PACC report.
They are Occidental Mindoro Rep. Josephine Sato, former Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat Jr., Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas, Misamis Occidental Rep. Henry Oaminal, Isabela Rep. Alyssa Tan, Northern Samar Rep. Paul Daza, Quezon Rep. Angelina Tan, ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Eric Yap, and Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman.