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Ateneo academic community urged to disown Secretary Yap over agri fund scams

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Saturday urged members of the Ateneo academic community to disown Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap over allegations that he played a key role in the alleged corruption of taxpayers' money that was supposed to fund the controversial Ginintuang
Masaganang Ani (GMA) program.

In a press statement, Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap asked university officials, faculties, students, parents and members of the entire academic community, including Ateneo's reigning 71st UAAP basketball champion--the Blue Eagles to denounce Secretary Yap's role in the episodes of fund scams in his department and dropped him from the roster of Ateneo alumni.

"The call addressed to the Ateneo academic community is a legitimate call. We hope the Ateneo folks would see the rationale behind this appeal and go for another crown, this time not in the field of basketball but in the field of national interest and public trust," Hicap added.

According to Palace website, a lawyer by profession, Sec. Yap holds a Juris Doctor's degree at the School of Law of the Ateneo de Manila University. He was also a Dean's lister when he took up an A.B. Honors Degree in Management and Economics at the same university where he was fortunate to have had President Arroyo as his economics professor.

Sec. Yap was affiliated with the Yap, Jacinto, Jacob Law Office as Co-Founding Partner. He was also an associate lawyer of two more law firms namely: the Axucna, Yorac, Sarmiento, Arroyo & Chua Law Offices and the Balane, Barican, Cruz & Alampay Law Offices.

Earlier, Pamalakaya investigation dismissed as a sham an investigation called by Secretary Yap that would look into fund irregularities discovered by the Commission on Audit in connection with the implementation of government food security programs is a sham.

"By a nature and by design, Secretary Yap's Johnny Come Lately drama is nothing but a mechanism to stop COA and the public from the discovering more hybrid scams involving his department and the Office of the President," the group said.

"In the first place, Secretary Yap has no moral authority to conduct the investigation. He is part of this scam. We don't see any shade of legitimacy on his part to call for investigation. The Filipino people will not entertain this investigative masquerade," Hicap added.

Yap earlier ordered the suspension of the distribution of DA funds to private beneficiaries that include non-government organizations and people's organizations pending his department's investigation into the irregularities raised by COA.

Yap issued Special Order putting on hold further releases of government funds to NGOs and POs that have partnered with local government units (LGUs) in the implementation of various projects meant to ensure food security or sufficiency in the long haul.

Yap gave the nine-member audit committee investigating the COA-alleged discrepancies until Friday (September 26) to come up with its report, adding that the DA will announce the findings of this panel on Wednesday (Oct. 1), or 10 days after he had ordered such an investigation.

"Yap's intention is to scrap any paper trail that would link him and the Office of the President on these fund scams discovered by COA. And this is the ultimate purpose of this bogus probe," Pamalakaya said.

According to Pamalakaya, it is impossible the Office of the President and Secretary Yap were not aware of these highly questionable transactions and disbursements of DA funds.

The militant group said Malacañang and DA were well informed about the P 218.7 million irregularities in the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) seed fund for hybrid rice production, the P 135 million vegetable scam and the P 444 million in total donations awarded to 16 fly-by-night organizations.

"Malacañang and DA are always in the state of denial. That's the trademark of this administration, so these fund scams at Yap's department are nothing few to the taxpaying people and the Filipino public in general," Pamalakaya said.

Pamalakaya said an independent investigation should be conducted, and that the probe conducted by Secretary Yap's committee should be declared bogus, immoral and self-serving.

"We want the truth to come out. Not the truth in accordance with the corrupt people in Malacañang and the DA. Yap's department if not the center, is one of the centers of corruption in the Macapagal-Arroyo government so it has zero credibility," the militant group added. #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 03:20 | link | comments |
corruption

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