Published: January 08, 2015
Vice President Jejomar C. Binay categorically refused to appear in any advertisements of the Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund), the agency’s president and chief executive officer said Thursday, as she refuted Sen. Alan Cayetano’s claims that the Vice President lobbied Pag-IBIG Fund to come up with a political advertisement.
“Hindi totoo na Vice President Binay tried to influence Pag-IBIG into coming up with an advertisement, into a political advertisement. That was never on the table,” Atty. Darlene Marie Berberabe said in an interview on the ABS-CBN News Channel.
Berberabe clarified that what was discussed by the Pag-IBIG Board of Trustees were the institutional advertisements that promoted Pag-IBIG Fund’s services and benefits and who would be the best spokesperson for the agency to appear in the commercials.
“Kukuha ba tayo artista, kukuha ba tayo ng talent, iyong presidente ba, iyong chairman ba. And in fact noong, ito ay pointed ko'ng tinanong kay Vice President Binay, ‘Sir ito po ang mga na-'discuss, ano po bang tingin n’yo rito?’ And, categorical, sinabi ni Vice President Binay, ‘basta hindi ako,’” Berberabe said.
“Sinabi niya iyon, sapagkat after the previous administration, nagkaroon na ng Senate investigation about Pag-IBIG Fund and their advertisements. (A)t that time, 2012 and 2013, nakakapag-sabi na si Vice President Binay na tatakbo siya. So, sinabi ko rin na, ‘naku, nakapag-sabi na,’ so baka makulayan, and what we wanted to campaign for was really the product, the program of Pag-IBIG Fund. So noong sinabi ko iyon sa kanya, hindi mahaba usapan, sinabi niya categorical, hindi siya,” she added.
Moreover, Berberabe refuted Sen. Antonio Trillanes’ claims that the Vice President favored certain contractors.
“Ang sagot ko naman do’n, no’ng bumulaga sa amin ang Globe Asiatique [scam] in 2010, we had a hard time really explaining what happened. It was a tough time for Pag-IBIG. What did we do? We filed a syndicated estafa case,” she said.
“Kami ang lumaban. And then we implemented reforms. For example, for politicians, parang iniisip ko, ito na nga o, ang laki-laking controversy. Tapos gagawin mo pa ulit? On the contrary, ang ginawa ni Vice President, ‘di ba s’ya ang matigas na nagsasalita? ‘Talagang we will pursue this case and we will be relentless. ‘Di namin bibiguin ang members.’ And ‘yon ang unang-unang tinanggal – na walang special arrangements, special favors,’ Berberabe added.
Berberabe also decried the senators’ smear campaign of Pag-IBIG fund and assured the Fund’s members that all of the agency’s transactions were above board.
“This is the first time na integrity ‘yong tanong sa amin. Kaya para sa akin, masakit ito because sa akin, twin standards kami lagi sa Pag-IBIG Fund. We not only perform excellently, we have to exceed out targets, but we also have to work with integrity,” she said.
“Ako parang noong nabasa ko nga iyong news report tungkol dito, for me what is important is that it didn't happen. So I want to assure the members that, you know, we really think about our moves, our decisions, in every contract that I signed, in every decision that I make, I always think if I'm going to be asked, can I defend it, even in the Senate,” she added.