MANILA – Former secretary Wanda Teo claimed that she did not know her brothers were behind a blocktime program on government-run television PTV-4 where the Tourism department placed millions of pesos worth of ads.
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said on Wednesday it was difficult to believe the former Tourism secretary’s claim.
In a Senate hearing Tuesday, Teo denied any wrongdoing in the placement of an advertisement on PTV-4 news show “Kilos Pronto.”
“Hindi kapani-paniwala ang alibi ni … Teo na hindi niya alam na ang kanyang sariling kapatid na si Ben Tulfo ang may-ari ng ‘Kilos Pronto,’” said Trillanes.
He said he will push through with the filing of plunder charges against Teo and her Tulfo siblings over the allegedly anomalous advertisement deal between the Tourism department and PTV-4.
“Maliwanag pa sa sikat ng araw na lahat ng elemento ng krimen na plunder ay ginawa ng magkakapatid na sina Ben Tulfo, Erwin Tulfo at Wanda Teo, at ilang opisyales ng DOT at PTV-4,” Trillanes said.
Ben Tulfo maintained that there was no conflict of interest and that he would not return the money the DOT paid Bitag Media Unlimited, Inc., which produced the show, “because I did not do anything illegal.”
In a 2017 audit report, the Commission on Audit flagged the DOT’s ad placements on “Kilos Pronto.”
“The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the DOT and the People’s Television Network, Inc. (PTNI) and/or PTV showed a possible conflict of interest between the DOT and the PTV, considering that as per approved media plan, P89,878,000.00 or 75 percent of the computed contract cost will be paid to the program Kilos Pronto which is under the company owned by the brother of the DOT Secretary,” the COA said.
State auditors also discovered that PTV-4 failed to submit documents on payments made to Bitag Media.
“Dagdag pa rito, napaamin si Erwin Tulfo na nakinabang siya sa transaksyong ito dahil siya ay kumikita ng P150,000 na sweldo kada episode, o mahigit P3 milyon kada buwan,” said Trillanes.
In the Senate hearing Erwin Tulfo stressed that he was not part of Bitag Media and was only its talent./PN
