Pacquiao punches back, cites ‘corruption’ under Rody

SAYING his “honor” is at stake and that he has not backed out from any challenge, Sen. Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Pacquiao on Saturday, July 3, 2021, disclosed several alleged ‘corruption’ cases under the Duterte administration that is yet to be investigated by the government.

Pacquiao, also the world’s most recognized boxer, held a press conference at his Senate office hours before he boarded his flight to the United States for additional preparation for his upcoming fight with undefeated World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation (WBC/IBF) welterweight king, Errol Spence, this coming August 21, 2021 (August 22 in Manila).

Claiming the documents in front of him are just “some” of the corruption cases that he has received thus far, Pacquiao first zeroed in on the ‘e-wallet’ program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) aimed at directly giving government’s cash subsidy to COVID-19 pandemic beneficiaries.

Pacquiao said that to facilitate the direct disbursement of government assistance to more than P1.8 million beneficiaries, the DSWD entered into an agreement with ‘Starpay,’ an online financial management company.

Pacquiao, however, noted that Starpay has only P62,000 paid-up capital, but was allowed to disburse billions in public money thru the P50 billion allocation of the DSWD from the P207.6 billion total budget for the ‘Special Amelioration Program 2’ (SAP 2).

He added that of the expected 1.8 million beneficiaries, only 500,000 beneficiaries actually downloaded the e-wallet application.

“Anong nangyari sa 1.3 milyon katao na hindi nagdownload ng Starpay app pero sa rekord, nakatanggap na ng ayuda,” the lawmaker asked. Pacquiao said the ‘missing’ amount could reach P10.4 billion.

Pacquiao also lashed at the Department of Health (DOH), which, he said, continues to purchase medicines that are nearing their expiration dates at “regular price,” instead of at a much lower cost.

What is worse, he added, is that the medicines more often were of no use as they had expired by the time these are ready for distribution.

“Marami pa pong katiwalian sa DOH at ilalantad ko ito sa tamang panahon,” he told Pres. Duterte.

Pacquiao also questioned the Department of Energy for allowing the ‘Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) to manage the country’s wholesale electricity spot market (WESM), without the benefit of bidding and despite the fact that it was only capitalized at P7,000 when it was established.

“From a P7,000.00 company, IEMOP became a multi-billion pesos company in just one year,” the living boxing legend claimed.

In making the revelations, Pacquiao said he is just responding to the challenge of Pres. Duterte last week for him to cite instances of corruption under his administration and if unable to do so, to simply shut up.

Pacquiao said it was never his intention to anger the president but that like the chief executive, he too was “trusted” by the more than 16 million Filipinos who voted for him in the 2019 elections.

Besides, Pacquiao said, he does not want to be embarrassed publicly.

“Ayaw ko pong mapahiya,” Pacquiao said.

Pacquiao also encouraged the public to report to his office any corruption cases and that henceforth, he would be the “voice of the marginalized.”

“Simula po ngayon, ako ang magiging boses ng mga maliliit,” he said.

Pacquiao added that he would remain supportive of Pres. Duterte’s “good programs.”

Pacquiao is currently the acting president of the PDP-Laban, while Pres. Duterte is its chairman.

However, of late, Pres. Duterte has been criticizing Pacquiao in public over the latter’s performance as a legislator.

But observers said the President’s wrath is focused on the reported political ambition of the senator in next year’s national elections.