BY PRINCE GOLEZ
Manila Reporter
MANILA – Four Department of Agriculture (DA) officials face criminal and administrative charges before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly falsifying “pork” documents.
Yesterday, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III filed the complaints against Antonio Fleta, undersecretary for administration and finance; Delia Ladera, supervising administrative officer; Charie Sarah Saquing, department chief accountant; and Telma Tolentino, OIC of the budget division.
In his affidavit, Pimentel denied he allocated P40 million of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for an agro-industrial enhancement project and in Surigao de Sur for organic farming-related activities.
The letters requesting the Agriculture department to disburse said amount were “fake,” the senator from Mindanao said.
“The truth is that I wrote no such letter,” Pimentel said, adding the DA failed to produce the “original” of the fake letter with regards the agro-industrial enhancement project.
“The signature in the letter is a forgery, an imitation. The letterhead is not the letterhead of the official stationery of my office,” Pimentel said.
Validating the authenticity of his signature, he hired a handwriting expert to prove he did not sign the letter.
Pimentel said the respondents should be suspended pending investigation for grave misconduct.
Pimentel earlier revealed that alleged pork barrel scam queen Janet Lim Napoles tried to “befriend” him.
“I acted civilly towards her but said ‘no’ when PDAF matters were raised,” he added./PN
