SAMAL, Bataan- The mayor of this town on Tuesday denied receiving a single centavo from the P10-million fund allegedly released by the Department of Agriculture through her letter-request to Senator Gringo Honasan.
Mayor Generosa dela Fuente said she found out that a letter she had supposedly sent to Honasan for an agriculture project in Samal sometime in 2010 was faked.
“I have not entered into any memorandum of agreement with the Samahan ng mga Magsasaka sa Kapatagan at Kabundukan Foundation with address in Quezon City for such fund,” the mayor said in a certification she issued to members of the Commission on Audit from the central office in Manila.
“Nakapagtataka na normally kapag may pondo dapat bababa muna ang pera sa local government unit at gagawa ng MOA sa alinmang foundation pero ito yata diretso sa foundation,” she said.
Dela Fuente said she came to know of the alleged fund-release from COA on March 1, 2013.
She said she was shown a letter-request to Honasan with the municipality’s letter head and her supposed signature. “Obvious na obvious na fake ang pirma ko,” the Samal mayor said.
She said she was shown Special Allocation Release Order (SARO) where 10 municipalities in Bataan received P10 million each or total of P100 million. She would not say if the other municipalities were also victims of the fund scam.
Dela Fuente said she was only speaking for herself that no such fund passed her office.
In a text message, former Mayor Joel Payumo of Dinalupihan, Bataan said his signature was also faked.
“There was a supposed funding for Dinalupihan from DAR or DA but I found out that the contact was fake and so with my signature,” Payumo said.
