National Electrification Administration (NEA) chief Edgardo Masongsong on Thursday refuted recent allegations leveled by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) as “baseless and malicious.”
Contrary to the statement made by PACC Chairman Greco Belgica, Masongsong assured in a statement that no public funds were used to finance the campaign of the PHILRECA party-list during the 2019 elections, adding that this matter can easily be verified from NEA’s records.
“My alleged ‘condoning of the use of public funds to fund the political campaign of PHILRECA Party-list’ is baseless, malicious and a reckless presumption considering that no public funds were ever manipulated for the said purpose,” the NEA chief said.
He also advised Belgica to be circumspect in his actions and statements and focus more in finding the misuse of public funds, “and refrain from being used by other sectors in their political tirades.”
Masongsong has yet to receive a copy of the complaint, he said as of press time.
PHILRECA Party-list Rep. Presley De Jesus also denied the allegations of receiving political contributions from electric cooperatives (ECs) for its campaign in the 2019 elections.
In a statement, De Jesus categorically denied the allegations hurled by Belgica.
“The inclusion of our name is baseless and reckless. We categorically deny the allegations and condemn any attempt to tarnish the name and reputation of the Party-list. We request that PACC be more circumspect in dealing with this matter,” he said.
De Jesus said the issue stemmed from a malicious complaint filed before the PACC by political opponents, who “have repeatedly pestered us with cases with which we have responded to time and again.”
“In fact, had PACC been more thorough in their research, they would have known that Electric Cooperatives are not public entities. They are non-stock, non-profit membership organizations supervised by the NEA,” he said.
“Regardless, the Party-list did not receive any political contributions from any Electric Cooperative during the 2019 Elections,” De Jesus said.
PHILRECA assured that it “remains committed to transparency in governance and the thrust to curb corruption in government.”
De Jesus also said the party-list supports any investigation into the matter and looks forward to clearing its name.