MANILA – A House committee has recommended graft charges against Ilocos Norte governor Imee Marcos and other local officials for their alleged involvement in the misuse of their share of tobacco excise taxes.
The House committee on good government and public accountability in a report said Marcos and the other officials must be held liable for the “highly irregular and illegal” purchase of 110 units of Foton minicabs.
“With all premises considered, the committee has determined that the purchase of the subject vehicles by the PGIN was highly irregular and illegal,” the report stated. “The 110 vehicles were overpriced by P21.45 million.”
It added that a certain Marc Chua, who is described as the “long-time partner” of Marcos, sold the vehicles to the Ilocos Norte provincial government for P485,000 per unit – overpriced by P195,000 per unit.
Ilocos Norte representative Rodolfo Fariñas has accused Marcos before for misusing P66.5 million in tobacco funds after she authorized the purchase of the minicabs in 2011 and 2012 without public bidding.
The money spent was the share of Ilocos Norte from the tobacco revenues under Republic Act (RA) 7171, which aims to promote the development of farmers in Virginia tobacco-producing provinces.
“The purchase of the vehicles was irregular as it was done through cash advances and without public bidding,” the committee report said. “The transaction also violated RA 7171 because the fund was utilized to buy motor vehicles, which was not among the purposes enumerated under the law.”
The report also noted that the purchased vehicles were not registered with the Land Transportation Office, a violation of Republic Act 4136, or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code./PN
