THE P75.8 million payments made by the People’s Television Network Inc. (PTNI) for ad placements to Bitag Media Unlimited Inc. (BMUI) remain unpaid four years after the issuance of notices of disallowance, government auditors have said.
Based on the 2022 audit of the PTNI released on June 13, 2023, the two notices of disallowance issued by the Commission on Audit (COA) have not been settled as the appeal filed by network executives is still pending.
The P75.8 million comprised more than half or 51 percent of the P128.613 million unsettled disallowances against the state-owned television network based on the “Summary of Audit Disallowances, Charges, and Suspensions.”
“As of December 31, 2022, the unsettled audit disallowances amounted to P128.613 million, of which P5.059 million were already covered by Notice of Finality of Decision, P123.523 million are on appeal,” the COA said.
The advertisements were paid for by the Department of Tourism (DOT) then headed by secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo, whose brother, Bienvenido “Ben” Tulfo, owned the BMUI. DOT’s ads aired over the Kilos Pronto program also hosted by Tulfo and another brother.
Controversy over the ad placements hogged the headlines in 2018 after the COA questioned the legality and validity of the transaction over missing documents including the memorandum of agreement, certificate of performance, duly signed budget utilization request.
Based on audit records, P60.01 million was paid to BMUI in 2017 and P15.79 million the following year.
In 2018, the COA issued notices of suspension (NS) to give PTNI officials the opportunity to submit the required documents.
However, the NS ripened into notices of disallowance when the TV executives still failed to comply despite having been given the opportunity to clarify the issue.
In 2021, the Office of the Ombudsman dismissed criminal complaints for corruption filed against Teo, Tulfo, DOT executive assistant Arlene Mancao, PTNI general manager Dino Antonio Apolonio, PTNI Airtime Management Group head Ramon del Rosario, and Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) administrative officer Ma. Alma Francisco.
