Palace counting on Tulfos' word to return P60M

Malacañang on Thursday remained hopeful that the media production outfit run by the brother of former Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo would make good on its promise to return the P60 million it earned from the government.

"Nasa Tulfos na iyan kasi sila naman iyong boluntaryong nagsabing isasauli nila. So we’re counting on their word of honor na kung ibabalik nila at sinabi nila eh talagang ibabalik nila," presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. told reporters.

Roque made the statement after Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said  that Bitag Media Unlimited Inc., owned by Teo's brother Ben Tulfo, had yet to return the amount.

Puyat took over the DOT leadership from Teo, who resigned on May 7 over conflict of interest allegations in connection with the controversial ad placement on her brother's program on state-run People's Television Network.

Teo and Ben's older brother, broadcaster and columnist Mon Tulfo, earlier denied reports that Ben and his production house would be returning the sum to the government.

Neither Ben nor BMU had actually vowed to return the amount. It was Teo's lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, who said they would, claiming that the Tulfos arrived at the decision following a family meeting.

Teo had denied having knowledge of PTV's decision to place the DOT advertisements in her brother's "Kilos Pronto" program, and said that the project went through a bidding process and was reviewed by her department's legal department.

The Commission on Audit, however, flagged the ad spend for lack of supporting documents including the memorandum of agreement.

The Office of the Ombudsman is now looking into the controversial deal. — MDM/BM, GMA News