By PRINCE GOLEZ
Manila Reporter
MANILA — Former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) director general Augusto “Boboy” Syjuco Jr. believes President Benigno Aquino III and his allies were behind the graft charges filed against him and his wife before the Sandiganbayan.
Aquino and his “well-fed harlots” have been resorting to the “perverted act of malicious political persecution,” Syjuco said in a statement released to Panay News.
“It is the unconscionable act of one disturbed person in conspiracy with his harlots. I am not afraid,” he said of the President, who, in his 2013 State of the Nation Address, criticized him over the alleged overpricing of Tesda equipment.
The Ombudsman accused Syjuco, his wife Judy and two other people of diverting government funds to a questionable nongovernment organization.
Syjuco also filed a case against the Ombudsman before the United Nations International Court of Law “for [its] manifest impartiality.”
According to the former Iloilo’s 2nd District representative, the Ombudsman has become the administration’s “willing tool.”
“I created the Ombudsman in 1973. But this office can only be as strong as the character of the occupant and only as decent as the patronage cabal of those who bargained to compromise the Ombudsman appointment,” he said.
Charged along with the Syjucos were former Tesda deputy director general for field operations Santiago Yabut Jr. and Tagipusuon Foundation president Maria Nela Yniesto.
Syjuco and his wife allegedly disbursed P20 million in pork barrel funds to Taguipusuon Foundation coursed through Tesda.
The amount was supposed to be appropriated for Tesda’s scholarship program, the Invigorating Constituent Assistance in Reinforcing Employment, or I-CARE, said the Ombudsman.
It was used to buy school uniforms, notebooks, and school bags and supplies for public elementary and high school students of Iloilo’s 2nd District instead, it said.
Syjuco has filed complaints with the Supreme Court against the Priority Development Assistance Fund and the Disbursement Acceleration Program, and a Writ of Kalikasan against the Jalaur River Multipurpose Program–Phase II.
“I will continue to wage a war of justice against them, armed with unshakable righteousness from our Maker, sacrifice without limit for our people and my own indomitable will,” the former Tesda chief said./PN
