More cases readied versus PITC CEO

THE president and chief executive officer of the state-owned Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC), Dave M. Almarinez, can expect to have more criminal and administrative cases to pour over his head in the coming days with Atty. Lorenzo ‘Larry’ Gadon eyeing Almarinez’s alleged “lavish wedding” with actress Ara Mina last June 30, 2021 and the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) confirming the official is now also under its close scrutiny.

During the ‘Meet the Press/Report to the Nation’ media forum of the National Press Club (NPC) last July 23, 2021, Gadon said many people found the couple’s wedding held at the ‘Alphaland Baguio Mountain Lodges Chapel,’ Baguio City, as “scandalous” and “vain” given the country is under a state of national emergency and crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Even Pres. Duterte decided to have a very simple birthday celebration to show that he commiserates with our people and yet, here we have one official who appear to even brag about the lavishness of his wedding,” Gadon said.

(Pres. Duterte turned 76 last March 28, 2021 and decided to simply spend the day at his house in Davao City wearing an ordinary t-shirt and short pants– Editor).

PEP.PH, in a very favorable article last July 3, 2021 on the wedding of Almarinez and the former bombshell of Philippine cinema, described the affair as the “talk of the town” and “the biggest and grandest in showbiz during the pandemic.”

The article, as of this issue of Pinoy Exposé, has already been seen and shared more than 3,200 times.

Gadon said he was “reliably informed” that Ara Mina’s wedding gown costs P2 million and that the flower arrangement alone costs P4 million.

The guests, he added, were treated to an P18,000 per plate lunch.

He said Almarinez’s actions violated the constitutional principle that require public officials “to lead modest lines,” as well as the prohibition on extravagance by public officials under RA 3019 and RA 6713.

“Naghihirap ang ating mga kababayan, pagkatapos napakaluho ng kanilang kasal at parang ipinagmamalaki pa,” lamented Gadon.

Last month, Gadon had sued Almarinez, also a Department of Trade (DTI) undersecretary, before the Ombudsman for malversation of public funds, illegal use of public funds, entering into prohibited transactions, swindling and corruption, citing the adverse findings on the PITC’s financial transactions by the Commission on Audit (see also Pinoy Exposé Issue No. 24).

As of 2019, Gadon noted that the COA had already called out the PITC as it still has over P9 billion “unutilized funds” in its possession transferred to the company by at least 17 national government agencies for their procurement needs.

Almarinez was appointed as PITC president and CEO by Pres. Duterte in 2017. Prior to this, Gadon claimed that the official is just an “ordinary on-line seller” of an assortment of products.

Created under PD 252 in 1973, among the PITC’s core responsibilities is to provide “the most efficient and cost-effective procurement services” to other government agencies. It is a government owned and controlled corporation under the National Development Company (NDC).

PACC chair Greco Belgica, in the same forum, confirmed that the PITC and Almarinez are already under investigation by his office over the many reports of its underperformance in the fulfillment of its mandate and the personal lifestyle of Almarinez.

He added that among the issues they are looking at on the wedding is the claim by Almarinez’s camp that the reported P2 million wedding gown of Ara Mina was just a “donation.”

Kung donasyon, alamin natin kung sino ang nag-donate at bakit,” Belgica said.

Belgica also said they expect to conclude their investigation very soon and that they would submit the result to the Ombudsman for the filing of criminal cases if warranted, and to Pres.

The COA, in its reports, also called out the PITC for not returning to the government agencies concerned the money they turned over for their procurement needs and for placing them instead in the money market, which is contrary to existing government accounting policy.

Gadon claimed this is akin to the PITC “gambling away” the money entrusted to it.

Gadon, who gained respect after successfully campaigning for the removal of then Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno in 2018 on the ground of her lack of integrity by not complying with the law against the non-submission of her ‘SALN’ (statement of assets, liabilities and net worth), said there appears to be an “unseen hand” inside the PITC that has been “abusing” its mandate in order for the company to earn money by simply not performing its procurement mandate under its own charter.