ACT Teachers Representative and Deputy Minority Leader Antonio Tinio warned the Commission on Elections (Comelec) against allowing technicalities to derail the investigation into election law violations by government contractors involved in the country’s largest corruption scandal in recent history.
During its budget hearing, Tinio commended Comelec for its proactive investigation into 31 contractors who allegedly served as campaign donors while holding government contracts, but expressed concern that the probe might result in no accountability due to legal technicalities.
“Madidismaya talaga ang publiko kung ganun lang ang magiging kahinatnan ng inyong investigasyon na due to technicalities, lusot at walang mananagot,” Tinio stated
The technicality being referred to is if the contractor claims that his donation to politicians was personal and not made by the corporation.
The Deputy Minority Leader highlighted the unprecedented scale of the current corruption scandal, noting that it involves over one trillion pesos compared to the ten billion peso Napoles PDAF scam. “Kumbaga, kumpara sa PDAF scam noon ng Napoles, barya na lang yun,” he said.
“Nakatutok po ang lahat sa inyo ngayon dahil nga sa tindi ng issue ng corruption,” Tinio told Comelec officials, warning: “Sana hindi na naman ma-disappoint at ma-dismaya, mawawalan ng pag-asa ang publiko na kapag malaking isda ay laging nakakawala.”
Tinio emphasized that election law makes no distinction between types of contractors, whether service or infrastructure providers, as long as they have government contracts. He called on Comelec to ensure that the investigation leads to genuine accountability rather than technical acquittals that would further erode public confidence in the electoral system. #
