MIRIAM TO SUE CABINET CANDIDATES FOR CORRUPTION

        Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair of the Economic Affairs Committee, said that she will file a committee report recommending to the Ombudsman the criminal prosecution of cabinet members who did not satisfactorily explain the source of funds for their TV infomercials.

        "It is highly likely that these senatoriables and others are using public funds, by hiding it behind so-called 'extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses,'" the senator said.

        Santiago said that there is no law which requires cabinet members to publicize their departments, and that it is illegal for them to feature themselves in alleged infomercials.

        She added that it is "highly likely" that hundreds of millions of pesos in public funds have already been paid for infomercials, because the rate card of a prime TV channel charges some P 435,000 for 30 seconds of a commercial.

        Santiago said her committee invited 12 cabinet and other officials who are running the infomercials, but only six confirmed: Vice-President Noli de Castro, Sec. Margarito Teves, Sec. Francisco Duque, Sec. Jesli Lapuz, Pagcor Chair Efraim Genuino, and MMDA Chair Bayani Fernando.

        "The rest of the cabinet members who did not appear and who did not even gave me the courtesy of specifying what their so-called previous appointments were, are simply scared stiff. Their absence indicates that they are probably guilty of using public funds," she said.

        Santiago said that the budget specifically provides that "extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses" include "other similar expenses not supported in the regular budget allocation."

       "The cabinet candidates are probably padding their miscellaneous expenses to camouflage their payments to the TV stations. They are entered as 'extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses' or as 'other maintenance and operating expenses,'" she said.

        Santiago noted that it is the job of the Commission on Audit to check that there are no false entries in the liquidation of public funds, but COA Chair Reynaldo Villar refused to attend the hearing.

        Santiago said that TV ad payments could also have been taken from the confidential expenses which are allowed for the DILG-PNP, and DND; and also from donation expenses, which are allowed for the public works, health, and environment departments, for MMDA and for Makati City.

        In addition, she said that TV payments could be taken from intelligence expenses, which are allowed for DILG-PNP, MMDA, Makati City , and DENR.

        Under COA Circular No. 92-85, all transactions charged against intelligence and confidential funds of all departments and local government units in Metro Manila are submitted for audit in a sealed envelope, direct to the COA chair or his duly authorized representative.

        Santiago said that according to the NGO Pera't Pulitika, for the 2007 campaign, the top six individual spenders on political advertisements were: Pichay, Villar, Arroyo, Recto, Angara, and Legarda.

        In all, it appears that even with the candidate discounts, in 2007, the senatorial candidates, taken together, spent P1.33 billion on political ads.