Balutan seeks impartial probe
Credit to Author: RALPH VILLANUEVA| Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2019 16:49:46 +0000
Former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Alexander Balutan demanded a “full and impartial” probe of the allegations against him.
Balutan said an impartial investigation should commence if there are indeed allegations of corruption leveled against him.
“If there are accusations of corruption, I beg for a full and impartial investigations” he said in a statement.
PCSO deputy spokesman Florante Solmerin also called on Balutan’s accusers to prove their allegations.
“Those accusing him [of corruption] should really prove it. He will answer those, later,” he said.
“What’s important here is he has a clear conscience. Whatever they sling unto him, they should prove it. As he said, he is open to an investigation, anytime, anywhere,” Solmerin told The Manila Times in a phone interview.
“These are merely serious allegations, allegations of serious corruption. Mr. Balutan said he is open to a full investigation to ferret out the truth so the truth will come out,” he said.
Somerin added that Balutan was deeply hurt by the allegations thrown against him.
“Kasi [in his] entire military career wala siyang mga ganung bahid (His name was never tainted in his entire military career),” the spokesman said.
Somerin maintained that Balutan resigned.
“He resigned. He expressed his desire to resign from office. Nirerespeto ni general Balutan yung sinabi ng Malacañang (General Balutan respects what Malacañang said), but as far as he is concerned, he expressed his desire to resign from his post sa harapan mismo ni (in front of) ES (Executive Secretary Salvador) Medialdea,” he told The Times.
In a statement, Balutan had said he would quit his post if he were asked to do something that he could not “stomach.”
“I told all PCSO employees when I assumed as GM in 2016 that if somebody from the Office of the President, Congress asks [or] orders me to do something which I cannot stomach, I will resign,” he added.
“[Duterte] retired me early from the Marines to help him run his administration. In silence, I did and I excelled. I did not ask for anything from the President in return. The rest was history,” Balutan said.
Malacañang last week said Balutan was sacked by the President over “serious” allegations of corruption that were not expounded.
In the past, Balutan was accused by PCSO board member Sandra Cam of spending P10 million for a Christmas party in a five-star hotel in December 2017.
Balutan had denied it, saying the party had a budget of only P6 million.
In February last year, Duterte cleared Balutan and asked Cam to befriend the PCSO general manager.
The post Balutan seeks impartial probe appeared first on The Manila Times Online.