The Standard - 2016 March 6- Sunday

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VOL. XXX  NO. 25  3 Sections 24 Pages P18  SUNDAY : MARCH 6, 2016  www.thestandard.com.ph  editorial@thestandard.com.ph

POE ALLY OUSTED, GETS TRO

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UNA HITS ILLEGAL AUDIT OF POLL BETS By Christine F. Herrera and Vito Barcelo

THE Ombudsman is supposedly exerting undue pressure on the Commission on Audit to release and submit an incomplete special audit report on Makati City Hall Building 2 in a bid to derail the candidacy of opposition presidential candidate Vice President Jejomar Binay. But in stark contrast, UNA president Toby Tiangco said Saturday, the COA and Ombudsman were “pussyfooting” on its reports on the Priority Development Assistance Fund and the Disbursement Acceleration Program of the Aqui-

no administration. “We have been informed that the Ombudsman has been personally calling up COA officials telling them to transmit to her office its special audit report on Makati Building 2 even if the report does

not include the replies or comments of City Hall officials. “The Ombudsman, on the other hand, is sitting on its hand and has failed to even consider taking action against those involved in the DAP scandal which has been declared unlawful and unconstitutional by the Supreme Court,” Tiangco said. He said at least 38 members of the ruling Liberal Party were implicated in the PDAF scam. “But until now, the COA has not finished its report because many LP members of other allies of the administration will be implicated,” Tiangco said.

“In the case of DAP, where the Supreme Court already made a ruling of bad faith on the part of [Budget[ Secretary [Florencio] Abad, there is no COA referral to the Ombudsman,” Tiangco lamented. “In so doing, the Ombudsman wants COA to effectively discard the findings of 11 audits, including one conducted by technical specialists, which concluded there was no overpricing and that the said project complied with COA regulations,” he added. Tiangco said the COA would violate its own policy that no special audits should be done against candidates running for the May elections.

“It will also be in direct contravention of COA Resolution 2015033, dated Sept. 29, 2015, prohibiting the conduct of special audit against candidates of the 2016 elections,” he explained. Quoting COA insiders, Tiangco said Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales personally called up a ranking COA official prior to her trip abroad demanding that the audit report be released immediately. Tiangco said these acts bolster UNA’s claim that Morales has displayed blatant partiality when handling complaints involving the Vice President and members of his Next page family.

TRUE COLOR. Although she was wearing a yellow apron provided by the Roxas-Robredo camp, a vendor at the Kamuning Public Market in Quezon City vowed to support Vice President Jejomar Binay who visited the market on Saturday morning.

‘ROCKETSTOVE’ TOPS SIKAT DESIGN TILT

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MANILA IMPOUNDS NOKOR SHIP FOLLOWING a United Nations resolution imposing sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear and ballistic missile tests, the Philippines said Saturday it had impounded a North Korean vessel in compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 2270. Undersecretary Manuel Quezon III said the 6,830-ton cargo ship Jin Teng

will not be allowed to leave Subic Freeport, where it had been docked for three days and its crew will be deported. “We know that the world is disturbed by what is happening in North Korea because of its nuclear weapons program and its development of intercontinental ballistic missiles and the United Nations Security Council imposed sanc-

tions,” according to Quezon. “As part of the UN, we have an obligation to do its part to enforce the sanctions,” he said. It was the first reported case of the sanctions—the toughest to date, which were adopted late Wednesday by the UN Security Council—being enforced. Next page


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