(Eagle News) – Senate blue ribbon committee chair Senator Richard Gordon pointed to the conflict of interest provision in the Constitution that was violated by former Department of Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo when she approved P60 million in ad placements with her brother’s Bitag Media Unlimited Inc.
Gordon, during the hearing on Tuesday, August 14, questioned Teo who answered him that she did not know that the program “Kilos Pronto” of Bitag Media where the ad placements were made was connected with his brothers.
Teo said that she did not know that “Kilos Pronto” which was indicated in the contract she had signed was a program of her brothers Ben and Erwin. Her brother, Ben Tulfo, is the program’s producer, while Erwin also appears as program host.
“Ben Tulfo is your brother, and you entered into an agreement,” Gordon pointed out.
“Hindi ko po alam yung ‘Kilos Pronto.” Yung ‘Bitag’ alam ko. The contract says ‘Kilos Pronto,’ hindi ko po alam na Bitag,” Teo said as she claimed that she did not know that Kilos Pronto was a program under PTV-4 that was produced by her brother, Ben Tulfo.
“They did not tell me. Had I known it, I would not have signed the contract,” she said.
Gordon then reminded Teo that the Philippine Constitution specifically prohibited conflict of interest for government officials.
He said that government officials should “strictly avoid conflicts of interest in the conduct of their office, and every Filipino should know the Constitution”
“Ignorance of the law does not excuse anyone,” Gordon told Teo.
(Eagle News Service)
