DMW looking at other officials behind OWWA's P1.4-B land deal

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said Monday it is investigating whether there were other officials, aside from sacked Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) administrator Arnell Ignacio, involved in the alleged P1.4-billion land acquisition deal.

DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said they are still gathering more information about the anomalous deal, which was supposedly not authorized by the OWWA board, before filing appropriate cases against those involved.

“‘Yan ang isang bagay na sinusuri ngayon, ‘yung posibilidad na merong iba pang sangkot. Kasi ang ipinalit sa Board ay isang komite within the OWWA. Hindi kinonsulta ang Board pero may sariling komite na binuo,” Cacdac said in an Unang Balita interview.

(That’s something that we’re looking into now, the possibility that there were others involved. Because the Board was replaced by a committee within the OWWA. The Board was not consulted about this project because this committee was formed.)

“Ito ang sinusuri natin kung sino ang kasama dito, sa pagpapasya na hindi konsultahin ang Board at mag-proceed dito sa transaksyon na may mga aspeto na kailangan pa nating lalong suriin,” he added.

(This is what we are investigating—-who were involved in the decision of not consulting the Board and proceeding with this transaction.)

The P1.4-billion land purchase deal under Ignacio’s leadership was supposed to be for a halfway house or dormitory-type accommodation of overseas Filipino workers to be located near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1, according to DMW Undersecretary Patricia Yvonne "PJ" Caunan.

Caunan replaced Ignacio as administrator of the OWWA, after the latter was removed from his post on the count of "loss of trust and confidence" due to the land deal he allegedly entered into without approval from the OWWA Board.

Asked if the P1.4-billion could still be retrieved, Cacdac said, “‘Yan ay isang bagay din na pinag-aaralan pa natin.”

(That is also something we are still studying.)

He said the DMW is also still reviewing whether the project should push through or not. —AOL, GMA Integrated News