GMA Brandtalk
Tracking
Archives
TRC chief Cunanan denies involvement in 'pork' scam
Technology Resource Center chief Dennis Cunanan on Sunday denied any involvement in the pork barrel scam and said he is ready to defend himself in court, after his name was linked with Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged mastermind in the P10-billion anomaly.
"I would like to state for the record that I had nothing to do with the Priority Development Assistance Fund-related projects processed by the TRC from 2007 to 2009, which are now the subject of the PDAF-scam raps filed against Mrs. Napoles, along with 37 other public officials and private individuals," Cunanan said.
He said he was a former deputy director general under the former TRC director general Antonio Ortiz, who was also charged.
At that time, he said he has not made any transactions with the bogus NGOs of Napoles.
Also at Sunday's press conference at the TRC office, Cunanan said he immediately returned to the country after plunder and malversation complaints were filed against him with the Office of the Ombudsman last Monday.
Cunanan said he left the Philippines last Friday to to attend to a coordination meeting of the Junior Chamber International (JCI), where he is its incoming secretary general.
"Nalulungkot tayo pero na-cut short ang biyahe ko, Friday last week ako umalis, bumalik rin ako ng Friday. May isang week pa dapat ako," he said.
He said he filed a voluntary indefinite leave of absence last September 7 for delicadeza and “para mapakita sa bayan na hindi natin gagamitin ang posisyon para makalusot.” Department of Science and Technology's Assistant Secretary Raymund Libro assumed as officer-in-charge, he added.
But he admitted he was surprised when his name was dragged into the pork barrel scandal. In fact, he said that when he assumed his current post in 2010, he found questionable transactions by 44 non-government organizations that received pork barrel funds, many of which had no liquidation reports.
His agency has blacklisted 44 NGOs with dubious transactions, eight of them allegedly set up by Napoles, Cunanan said, noting that he has not met or made any transactions with the businesswoman.
Cunanan said while he released a memo last July 16, 2010 to block any transactions of the 44 NGOs with TRC, he also suspended the use of Priority Development Assistant Fund (PDAF) in his agency.
“Noong naging director general ako noong 2010, wala nang PDAF allocation na dumaraan sa opisina,” he said.
Also in 2010, he said he issued a memorandum "adopting more stringent guidelines in the processing of PDAF projects by TRC, in compliance with the recommendations of the COA."
He added that he also released a memorandum on June 21, 2013, adopting new regulations on government disbursement "as well as imposed new accreditation requirements for NGOs and People's Organizations, in accordance with a new COA circular."
Ask about his legal moves, he told GMA News Online: "hindi pa ako umabot sa aspect na iyon. Pero maraming nag-volunteer to be my legal counsel. I haven't read the charges yet. But I have a clean conscience." — LBG, GMA News
