Sunday, November 22, 2020

P18B in gov't funds 'parked' in DTI firm

DRESS REHEARSAL Male residents of Road Dike Street, Barangay Tumana, Marikina City, put on maids' uniforms donated by Good Samaritans, drawing amusement from passersby. Flooding spawned Typhoon ``Ulysses'' has left thousands without home, food, clean water and clothes. RICHARD A. REYES

News

OVP partners with DepEd, others for limited in-person classes

Six-year-old Teejay Bendalian misses school, or how it used to be before the COVID-19 pandemic like when he and his kindergarten classmates played tag during break time. He’s now enrolled as a first grader at Pinagbuhatan Elementary School in Pasig City, and as with the millions of other pupils across the country and around the world. —STORY BY Krixia Subingsubing

Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1363645/ovp-partners-with-deped-others-for-limited-in-person-classes

Board Talk

When the impossible becomes possible

While the COVID-19 pandemic has inspired creativity and ingenuity, New York Times best-selling author Eric Ries said people should not wait for a crisis to be innovative. Ries, an entrepreneur and creator of the Lean Startup methodology, was one of the speakers at the recent Digicom Omni 2020, organized by Manulife Philippines and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines. —STORY BY Linda B. Bolido

Newsletter / Join us

Has this been forwarded by a friend? Subscribe now to the Philippine Daily Inquirer Newsletter and get your latest news and important updates on COVID-19 and the enhanced community quarantine.

Listen here

Banner story

P18B in gov't funds 'parked' in DTI firm

By DJ Yap

At least P18 billion in taxpayer money is still “parked” and “sleeping” in the coffers of a little-known state-run trading company that’s been tasked with procuring coronavirus vaccines, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said on Sunday.

Drilon said he would seek a Senate investigation into the books of Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC), an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which, according to him, “appears to be the go-to corporation [for] government agencies to park their unutilized funds.”

Poor track record

“[I] will file a resolution asking the committee on public corporations to look into its operations as there appears to be P18 billion in government funds parked in its accounts, which remain unutilized,” the Senate leader told the Inquirer in a text message.

Dave Almarinez, president of PITC, did not respond to a request for comment from the Inquirer on Sunday. But PITC’s chair welcomed Drilon’s plan for an investigation.

“We welcome the filing of the resolution as I have already asked PITC to submit to the Senate the status and full accounting of all their transactions,” said Ramon Lopez, chair and trade chief of the corporation.

During plenary budget deliberations, several senators cited PITC’s poor track record in fulfilling its mandate as the country’s exclusive trading company of “engaging in exports, trade services and special trading arrangements” to support domestic industries. PITC was recently tasked with importing COVID-19 vaccines from pharmaceutical companies amid optimistic reports about the results of recent phased trials. —WITH A REPORT FROM ROY STEPHEN C. CANIVEL INQ

Editorial

Sustain agri growth

The latest official estimates on the amount of damage to the agriculture sector caused by typhoons 'Quinta,' 'Rolly,' and 'Ulysses' are a staggering P12.3 billion. The sector, against all odds, has been one bright spot lately in an economy that has been severely battered by the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Read full story:opinion.inquirer.net