Drilon: DTI chief turning a blind eye to P33-B idle funds in PITC

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Friday expressed dismay over Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez's alleged inaction on the P33-billion idle government funds in the coffers of the Philippine International Trading Corporation, a firm under the Department of Trade and Industry.

This was after Lopez explained that the long procurement process was the reason why the funds of various government agencies were still with the government corporation.

"It is sad that in the face of COA (Commission on Audit) findings, amid calls of the Senate, and in light of the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) and DOF (Department of Finance) secretaries’ recommendations, here we have a DTI secretary who continuously refuses to do the right thing," Drilon said in a statement.

"Secretary Lopez turns a blind eye and a deaf ear to a practice that is legally and morally wrong. It is willful ignorance,” he added.

Lopez, as DTI chief, also serves as the chairman of the PITC's Board of Directors.

Drilon said the unused agency funds that are still with the PITC should be spent for the procurement of products and services and are not meant to be placed in money markets.

He also previously said that some agencies could be engaged in the practice of transferring their budget to the PITC to make it appear that these were obligated.

Warning the PITC that it may be held liable for violating the anti-graft law, the senator urged the trading firm to return the "parked" funds to the national treasury.

The PITC, on the other hand, denied that it serves as a “parking lot” for unused funds of various government agencies.

"The PITC has records to show that it has reverted back to the National Treasury all unutilized funds of client-agencies covering the periods 2019 and prior years and fully liquidated funds utilized for the procurement of goods and services for those years," PITC President and CEO Dave Almarinez said. — DVM, GMA News