MMDA Chairman and Presidential aspirant Bayani Fernando is in hot water after he admitted in a recent senate hearing that he accepted cash gifts amounting to more than P1,500,000. He further explains that he has no plans of donating the cash nor will he reject any gifts in the future should they come. The gifts came from the government funds of the Metro Manila Film Festival. This has drawn a lot of criticism, especially from Senator Jinggoy Estrada and Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago.
In his explanation, Fernando defends himself by saying that the “gifts” were budgeted as some form of incentive for those who contributed to the project should it perform well. According to Fernando, the revenue generated by the MMFF doubled during his term and this was recognized by the MMFF Executive Committee. Also he relates that he wasn’t the only one who got the bonus since all those who helped make the project a success also got gifts.
Question of Ethics
Giving out corporate incentives is not bad – in fact it’s a practice that’s highly encouraged. If I were working in government, I also wouldn’t mind having an extra 14th or maybe 15th month pay if the agency I’m working for does terrific. The pay bonus shouldn’t be extravagant because the agency isn’t using private cash, it’s using the hard earned money of tax payers.
The same can be said for the MMFF. It’s a government-funded agency and initiative. I am not totally averse to giving bonuses to performers however when the amount reaches P1.6M it’s not “regular” anymore. If it’s technically possible to get away with something like this, then we seriously have to take a look into our laws and have it amended ASAP. P1.6M is a lot of cash that can benefit a lot of people in the country. Giving it to just one person in recognition of his good work is just an irresponsible management of government funds. I would rather have used that money for micro-financing programs in a far flung rural area than just give it away as a gift.
It’s amazing that this administration is spending our money as if we’re a 1st world country. They go out of the country to dine in P1M restaurants, they spend P218M on self-serving infomercials, and they also give away “cash gifts” to themselves.
Senator Santiago was right in her speech – this is a blatant and shameless display of criminally liable acts. If this isn’t illegal yet, then someone in Congress should do their job and file a bill that will prohibit things like this from happening ever again.
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Agreed.
For your information, dear reader, the MMFF is run as a business and not a government entity. They have the sole discretion on who they want to reward the gift to.
1.6 Million isn’t that big you know.. if you did something big to help the country 1.6 Million is still very small.. Heck if you just give info on the whereabouts of a wanted criminal the government will even give you more than 2 million. It was a cash gift after all.. a gift.. anyone in their right mind would not reject a gift.. it would have been another story if BF stole the 1.6 million.. if anyone should be in hot waters it should be MMFF for giving out cash gifts that big..
that’s a lot of money and I agree many could benefit from that kind of amount. But I could say that I Admire Mr. Fernando’s honesty, thats a quite a rare trait coming from politicians. What saddens me is the fact that corruption stares directly in our faces and we continue to do nothing about it. It’s as if we’re believing and accepting the excuses of shameless thieves.
If that’s the case, I believe Bayani Fernando should donate the P1.6M to his fellowmen to show if he is truly concern, compassionate and amenable to be the country leader.
P1.6 million is huge amount and could already feed millions of hungry stomachs in the Philippines. It’s just sad to imagine that the people in the government are not willing to give their share to their countrymen.