MALACAñANG will investigate the anomalous P60-million advertising contract the Department of Tourism signed with the company of Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo’s brother Ben Tulfo to air television ads on the government-owned PTV-4 station, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said Monday.
“I would like to confirm that the Palace is looking into the matter. We will—that’s it, conduct an investigation,” said Roque.
He also confirmed the issue has reached President Rodrigo Duterte, who like the Tulfos also hails from Davao City.
This developed as Teo insisted earlier in the day there was no conflict of interest in the DoT’s decision to place ads with People’s Television Network Inc. or in her brother Ben’s firm Bitag Media Unlimited Inc. or BMUI, which produces a show that also airs on Channel 4.
“The contract was between PTV-4 and the Department of Tourism. It went through bidding and it was reviewed by our legal [team]. All cheques went to PTV-4. No cheque went to any other [media] production house,” Teo told reporters in a press conference.
Ben Tulfo also claimed in a Facebook live post on Sunday night that a “sacked” government official who has been reappointed to the Tourism department had talked with the press to expose the Commission on Audit’s finding against his sister’s agency. The post has since been deleted.
Although Tulfo did not name the person responsible for the leak, his description fits new Tourism Undersecretary Jose Gabriel “Pompee” La Viña, whose tenure with the Social Security System was not renewed before being reappointed by the Palace to the DoT on April 24.
La Viña—he social media director of the Duterte presidential campaign—also took his oath on Monday at Teo’s office, as he replaced Rolando Cañizal.
Teo said she did not believe her brother’s insinuation of La Viña’s effort to unseat her as Tourism chief.
“I cannot believe Usec. Pompee can do that. I am different from my brother [Ben],” she said, adding that she has been trying to call her sibling about his allegations.
La Viña also told the media he has “no ambition” to be the DoT’s secretary. He also said he does not know anyone from the audit commission.
“For anyone to claim that I have any influence over the CoA, I don’t know what their basis is,” he said.
The CoA’s annual audit report on the People’s Television Network Inc., posted on its website on Friday, said a Memorandum of Agreement was entered into between the PTNI and the DoT for the purchase of advertisement airtime with the magazine news-type daily program, “Kilos Pronto.”
“Kilos Pronto” is produced by Ben Tulfo’s BMUI, a blocktimer on PTV-4. The program is co-hosted by Ben, his brother Erwin Tulfo, and veteran broadcaster Alex Santos.
“The Palace will investigate the matter. We cannot of course—we have to accept the findings of the Commission on Audit. I understand this is the final finding. But the Palace will investigate on its own,” Roque told reporters in a Palace briefing.
The CoA said payments were released despite the absence of necessary supporting documents such as a memorandum of agreement or contract between PTNI and BMUI, Certificate of Performance, duly approved Budget Utilization Request and Billing Statement detailing the deliverables.
Even without these documents, CoA noted PTNI issued several checks as payments to BMUI— P22.09 million on May 11, 2017, P18.96 million on Nov. 8, 2017, and P18.96 million on Dec. 15, 2017.
Roque said that despite the controversy, Teo remains as DoT’s head, saying there is no reason for her to leave the post.
The President wants to learn the root cause of this incident, he added. “But I can assure you, it will be looked into. The Palace is looking into the matter,” Roque added.
Teo, meanwhile, said she did not know the commercials would be aired in the show of her brothers.
“The contract is between PTV-4 and DoT because it is the President’s directive to support the government station,” Teo said.
“There was also no conflict of interest because the deal was between DoT and PTV-4,” she said.
Teo, who owned a travel agency in Davao before being appointed to Duterte’s Cabinet, said she was too busy with her tourism work for her to focus on this issue.
“I don’t think it is incompetence on my part because I have lots of things to do as a secretary. This is not the only thing I need to focus on. There was also no conflict of interest because the deal was between DoT and PTV-4,” she added.
Teo also claimed that the department placed TV advertisements with other private media entities.
The DoT, she said, placed P23 million worth of advertisement with ABS-CBN and GMA Network; P20 million with CNN Philippines, P51 million with CNN International, and P51 million with the Discovery Channel.
“Ad placement is a normal transaction between the DoT and a television network, although preferential treatment was accorded to PTV-4 in line with the President’s directive for government agencies to support the government television network,” Teo said.
Her brother Ben, in his deleted Facebook post, described the official who exposed the CoA report to the media as the “operator” behind the “demolition job” against Teo that made his family “collateral damage” to the “yellow media.”
“So, you want to be a DoT secretary, huh?” Tulfo said in the FB post.
As SSS commissioner, La Viña was embroiled in various issues, particularly his alleged request for a P26-million fund for a social media project with him as TV host.
He was also tagged in a P1.6-million allocation for a media advertising program, but denied his involvement in either controversy.
In January this year, La Viña filed administrative complaints against 21 SSS officials before the Ombudsman for allegedly anomalous media contracts. He also accused several SSS officials of insider trading.
His appointment as SSS commissioner was not renewed in February, along with then-SSS chairman Amado Valdez.