Former Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson of Ilocos Sur has vowed to press for more graft charges against the head of the National Tobacco Administration who is facing plunder.
Singson, in his complaint filed last Friday, accused NTA Administrator Edgardo Zaragoza of plunder involving P64.6 million in tobacco funds.
Zaragoza’s co-accused were his son Zuriel and daughter Fayinna Pilar, mayor and vice mayor of Narvacan town, respectively.
They were all charged with “misappropriation and misuse of public funds” resulting in the alleged systematic raid of the coffers of the municipal government.
Singson, who ran and won as Narvacan councilor in the May 9 election, said that the P64.6-million funds which were released in two installments by the national government represented Narvacan’s share from tobacco excise tax collections in 2011.
R.A. 7171, authored by Singson when he was Ilocos Sur congressman in 1988, plows back a percentage of Virginia tobacco excise tax revenues to tobacco-producing areas annually.
Records of the case showed that Narvacan initially received P32,733,529 from its 2011 share and subsequently P31,865,047.
Singson said that the respondents, through two separate resolutions, allocated both released amounts to projects which lacked description and specifics “thus giving the respondents the free hand in implementing the funds anywhere and however they may want.”
In Resolution No. 20,Series of 2013, among the projects listed were improvement of roads and bridges for P22 million, flood control structures for P3 million, construction of rural health unit, phase 2 for P4 million and potable water supply project for P3 million. The projects totaled P32.7 million. TM