Finance dep’t to look into NFA, DPWH mess
07/29/2010 | 08:39 PM
Finance secretary Cesar Purisima on Thursday said his department will look into allegedly anomalous deals the National Food Authority and the Department of Public Works and Highways entered into during the Arroyo administration, with specific focus on possible tax issues.
At a news briefing at the Department of Justice in Manila, Purisima said he will tap the two agencies to provide the necessary information, which will be forwarded to the Bureau of Internal Revenue for auditing.
"Given the volume of importation that was done (by the NFA), we believe that there are substantial gains there that should be subjected to tax. The same is true with DPWH. We have also asked for a listing of top contractors and we will be submitting this to the BIR for review," Purisima said.
DPWH chief Rogelio Singson recently cancelled 19 flood-control projects, amounting to P934 million, which were approved two weeks before former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stepped down last June 30.
Singson said the projects did not undergo public bidding and were signed even before funds were properly allocated. (See: DPWH cancels 19 projects ok’d by Arroyo admin)
Likewise, new NFA administrator Lito Banayo said he has formed an audit team to determine possible anomalies within the agency's system of managing supply and demand of rice.
President Benigno Aquino III revealed in his State of the Nation Address that rice stocks were rotting in warehouses supposedly because of over-importation in 2008.
The President added that the NFA's debts reached P171.6 billion pesos this year.—Sophie Dedace/JV, GMANews.TV
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At a news briefing at the Department of Justice in Manila, Purisima said he will tap the two agencies to provide the necessary information, which will be forwarded to the Bureau of Internal Revenue for auditing.
"Given the volume of importation that was done (by the NFA), we believe that there are substantial gains there that should be subjected to tax. The same is true with DPWH. We have also asked for a listing of top contractors and we will be submitting this to the BIR for review," Purisima said.
DPWH chief Rogelio Singson recently cancelled 19 flood-control projects, amounting to P934 million, which were approved two weeks before former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stepped down last June 30.
Singson said the projects did not undergo public bidding and were signed even before funds were properly allocated. (See: DPWH cancels 19 projects ok’d by Arroyo admin)
Likewise, new NFA administrator Lito Banayo said he has formed an audit team to determine possible anomalies within the agency's system of managing supply and demand of rice.
President Benigno Aquino III revealed in his State of the Nation Address that rice stocks were rotting in warehouses supposedly because of over-importation in 2008.
The President added that the NFA's debts reached P171.6 billion pesos this year.—Sophie Dedace/JV, GMANews.TV
