Brillantes on intel funds

Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Sixto Brillantes refused to comment on the statement of former poll body commissioner Gus Lagman regarding the intelligence funds given to top poll officials.

"I'm not going to talk about intel funds. Kung gusto nya magsalita, okay lang. Pero this are all documented," he said.

On Wednesday, Lagman revealed that he received P1.25 million as intel funds during his stint at the poll body.

"Sometime in 2011, I received a check payable to me for P1 million, followed a few months later by another P250,000, as "intelligence" fund, or "I.F.", as they referred to it. Presumably, all Commissioners received an equal amount, with the Chairman, receiving double that, according to one of the commissioners, Lagman said in a statement.

He added, "In early 2012, somebody from Finance asked me to sign a document (just one sheet) that would liquidate the fund. The document basically said that I spent the amount on a variety of activities, none of which I actually did. I therefore refused to sign the document and said that I would just return the money, still untouched."

Aside from the intel fund, the former Comelec official said he also returned unspent representation allowance during official trips abroad, US,800 every trip), on top of the other travel expenses such as plane fare, lodging, and per diems.

"Of the two trips I made, I only spent US.25 of the representation allowance when I treated to dinner some people from a foundation that has been sponsoring training programs for COMELEC staff. I returned the rest. The Disbursing Officer didn't know how to handle the return of funds, so much so that I had to ask somebody from Finance to receive the money and issue me receipts," he said.

He also revealed that they have a monthly Revolving Fund of P50,000 for office expenses.

"Had I used them all up by presenting receipts, I could have drawn a total of P600,000 for the year that I was with the Commission. My office only spent P182,003.77 of that amount," he said.

Lagman served as poll commissioner from June 2011 to March 2012. (PNA)