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Thursday, May 06, 2004
Soliman denies Aunor is a DSWD consultant
By Bong S. Sarmiento
KORONADAL CITY -- Superstar Nora Aunor was never a consultant of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) ever since President Arroyo took over the reins of government in February 2001, contrary to the claims of a ranking administration official and the movie actress that she was a consultant to the agency, said the chief of the social welfare department.
As this developed, Malacaņang said charges would be filed against the opposition for presenting forged documents on Aunor's pay and passing this off as original in a bid to get back at the administration.
Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman strongly denied her department has a contract or a memorandum of agreement for services with Aunor, Nora Villamayor in real life, at any given time.
Soliman issued the clarification late Tuesday afternoon through a statement sent to the DSWD regional office here in an apparent bid to prevent demoralization among the rank and file employees and to bail out the agency from controversy.
The Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) of presidential aspirant Fernando Poe Jr. on Monday announced that Aunor, who has openly endorsed the bid President Arroyo, was allegedly paid P6.2 million by Malacaņang.
Poe's camp claimed the actress was paid the huge sum for endorsing Arroyo's bid for a full six-year term.
But Aunor said she was paid only P620,000 for her works with the social welfare department, and not for endorsing the bid of President Arroyo as what the opposition was accusing.
Not DSWD funds
According to Soliman, Aunor is undertaking social welfare projects of President Arroyo on her own, specifically helping the poverty alleviation program of the government through various outreach activities.
However, Soliman added that Aunor is not being paid for by the DSWD for her outreach works.
"Ms. Aunor was paid P620,000 by the Office of the President for services and reimbursements incurred over a period of one year. The money did not come from the DSWD [funds]," Soliman stressed.
But while Soliman denied the claims of Aunor, the secretary lauded the actress, saying the actress "has been working for the poor quietly and without much fanfare and publicity."
Soliman said that Aunor has always been a staunch supporter of DSWD's Home for the Older Persons, the Golden Acres and even celebrated one of her birthdays at the center where she distributed T-shirts and food.
Aunor, added Soliman, did all of these at her own expenses.
"This is a most serious offense that cannot go unpunished. The documents were forged by the opposition and the proper cases shall be filed in court against those culpable," said Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye.
He said the use of forged documents is punishable under Section 2, Article 172 of the Revised Penal Code or "falsification by private individual and use of falsified documents" which carries the penalty of six months, one day to six years.
Charges readied
Lawyer Hector Villacorta, head of the KNP secretariat, said they found photocopies of the P2.6 million check allegedly issued by the Office of the President to Aunor last March. The documents were inserted under the door of their campaign headquarters in Makati City.
Bunye said in a telephone interview they would come up with a list of persons who directly participated in the release of the "doctored" checks and vouchers.
"But they know who they are," he added.
He said the charges would be filed "not later than Friday" in the Makati courts.
Deputy presidential spokesman Ricardo Saludo said their legal team is also looking into the possible filing of libel charges "because this is a clear lie, they used fabricated evidence."
On the other hand, former Rep. Miguel Romero of the KNP said they will file charges against the administration for using the government fund in Arroyo's campaign.
He added that the KNP is willing to face any case to be filed by the administration in court. JMR/(With Bernadette Binalay, UP Baguio intern)
(May 6, 2004 issue)
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