Pulido-Tan, Henares, Carpio-Morales: The softer side of Aquino’s corruption busters

Commission on Audit Chairperson Grace Pulido-Tan, Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares, and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.

Their names send shivers down the spines of corrupt men (and women) from both the public and private sectors.

COA Chairperson Grace Pulido-Tan, the first woman to be appointed as chief of the agency, has been instrumental in the investigations into the pork barrel scam. Under her leadership, the COA released the special audit report tying members of the Congress and the Senate to questionable transactions with bogus non-government organizations.

BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares, meanwhile, gave BIR’s image teeth. Love or hate her, her efficiency produces results. Her campaign “Run After Tax Evaders” (RATE) has helped file over 200 tax evasion cases since 2010.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales made headlines when her agency investigated the bank accounts and Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Networth (SALN) of former Chief Justice Renato Corona during the latter’s impeachment.

In the public eye, these three women project a fierce image. As Carpio-Morales puts it, “Outside, I’m like a tiger. Inside, in my private life, I’m coy as a kitten.”

In their interview on “Investigative Documentaries,” these women who have been leading the fight against corruption for the Aquino administration gave Malou Mangahas an exclusive peek into their private lives and revealed where they draw their strength–from the company of family and from solitude devoted to their passions and hobbies.

Comfort in the kitchen
 

“Karamihan sa mga niluluto ko iyong madaling gawin kasi I’m busy. I don’t really have much time to stay in the kitchen,” COA Chairperson Grace Pulido-Tan said while preparing shrimp pomelo salad and hot sour soup, two of her favorite meals to cook.

“Magmula noong nasa COA ako, hindi na ako nakakaluto. Before that, I would cook more or less regularly kasi mahlig kumain ang pamilya ko. Iyong ang bonding time ng mga bata,” she added.

Pulido-Tan is married to Atty. Bayani Tan who she met in law school. The two have five children, three girls and two boys, who are now all grown up and have their own families.

For a woman like Pulido-Tan, time is a luxury. Heading the Commission on Audit is already a demanding job on a regular day, but the recent pork barrel scam has increased demands upon her agency. She often has to extend work hours at home, and on some days, she stays up until three in the morning finishing work.  She sleeps late and wakes up early, usually because of calls requesting for media interviews.

“What I hate most is when [I get calls for interviews] at five or six in the morning,” she said. “Pati ako nagigising,” added her husband.

When she manages to find some free time, Pulido-Tan escapes to the kitchen, that part of her home devoid of any signs of work, where the only thing that matters is family:

“Iyon ang bonding time ng mga bata, kapag nagluluto.”

Guns, literature, and mechanics
 

BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares is currently finishing the book “The World Without End,” a sequel to Ken Follet’s historical fiction novel “The Pillars of the Earth.” Immersing herself in a fictional world is one way of escaping from the stress of running after tax evaders.

Henares has been the BIR Commissioner for four years. Since she assumed the in 2010, the agency has already filed over 200 cases of tax evasion.

When she's not hitting the books, she hits the firing range with the Presidential Security Group. Henares actually owns a 9MM, 40 and 45 calibre.

"When I became commissioner of BIR, the President assigned some security to me from the PSG. So I just thought that they have guns there and something happens to us, I should know how to fire their gun," she said.

Going to the firing range with the PSG is also her way of helping the guards practice their shooting for free.

"Unfortunately for our military and our police, they are only given 32 bullets per year. For everything, practice and actual shooting. So if they want to practice, they have to buy their own bullets. So 30 bullets a year, how can you become efficient?" she said.

"The benefit of my shooting is that they also get to practice so they also become better at their craft and it also helps them to be better equipped to protect me," she added.

A very technical person, Henares shares that she also likes “tinkering with plumbing, and carpentry.” If her car has a problem, for example, she fixes it. She opens up the hood and examines the parts with the same thoroughness and concentration she devotes to examining files of potential tax evaders.

A lover of art
 

When you enter Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales' home, you can tell right away that she has a penchant for antiques.

"When I was with the Department of Justice noong 1971, nagko-collect [na ako ng antiques]," she said. "Kapag lunch time, naglalakad na ako to Padre Faura, to Mabini, and all that."

Among her prized possessions is an antique chest she inherited from her mother.

"They call it campaign chest, allegedly. It was brought by my grandfather from the other side of Vigan," she said.

It is through art that Carpio-Morales expresses herself. During her free time, she paints and plays the piano.

"Franz Liszt is my favorite [composer]," she shared.

On her piano, the Ombudsman momentarily escapes from the daunting task of charging wayward public officials as she loses herself in the sweeping melody of Liszt’s Liebesträume.


–Bernice Sibucao/PF, GMA News