The net closes - 2

Yesterday I referred to the claim of Eric Loretizo that the 4 th PSC check was deposited in BASOC, not Monico's account. For purposes of discussion (though not an admission) let us assume that indeed this check was deposited in the BASOC account.

But which account? As I said, I have identified three bank accounts so far but if Eric's claim is true, there will be four accounts and I will show later, there is another “mystery” or 4 th account. Here are the three.

The first is the Monico current account number 1422-15860 where the CoA says all the checks were deposited; the second is BASOC account number 0-422-14812-4 where the P9 million fund assistance of Bacolod City was deposited; and the third is the current account number 0-422-14442-0 in the name of Monico and Josefa Puentevella used to pay Eurolux International Lighting Inc.

Was the 4 th PSC check deposited in any one of these? If Eric is right, then it could not have been deposited in Monico's 1422-15860 because Eric already rejected this. Was it in BASOC's 0-422-14812-4?

It cannot be because Arturo G. Altarejos Jr. testified before the Sangguniang Panlungsod on January 12, 2006, that the BASOC account was used solely for the P9M city fund assistance.

Could it be in Monico/Josefa's 0-422-14442-0? No, otherwise the 4 th check would also have been deposited in Monico's account and that would contradict the claim of Loretizo that this check was NOT deposited in Monico's account.

So what BASOC account was Eric referring to? Was there a secret account known only to Monico and friends? Loretizo did not tell us what account it was, so we are left with just his claim, nothing more until Loretizo can show us the account number and its contents showing that the 4 th check of November 18, 2005 was in this account and not in Monico's account. Without that document, Loretizo's claim cannot hold water against the claim of CoA.

Even if we believe Eric, still Monico has to account for P50.5 million, whether he had it deposited in his personal account or in another account that has not been accounted for!

Nice play in words but they and the entire issue on this money boils to one word – accountability of public funds which until now Monico and friends have not done. Instead they obfuscate, believing that by hiding the truth of their accountability, they will be able to escape the people's justice and by attacking and intimidating those who dare exposed them, they will succeed and they need not be accountable.

The word account, just in case Monico and friends have not realized or forgotten what it means, came from an old French term “aconter” which means in our language, “mag-isip” or in English “to count”. This is now understood to mean to “give a statement of revenues and expenses” to include what money was received and how the money was spent. This means somebody else's money, not yours which in this case is public money.

But as I peruse the documents I gathered, it seems that Monico, Eric, Altarejos and friends have forgotten what this means, so I diverted a bit just to remind them.

Now to the “mystery account” which I will present in a round-about way so that our readers will be able to grasp the significance of this account and more accountability for Monico and friends.

In a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Bacolod City represented by Mayor Evelio R. Leonardia as BASOC co-chairman and Monico Puentevella as BASOC co-chairman, and Jose Cojuangco Jr. as president of the Philippine Olympic Committee and vice chairman and COO of Philsoc, the signatories agreed on several points, but I will deal only on what is relevant to this “mystery account” in the meantime. Others will be cited as we proceed with this discussion.

In this MOU, there is a provision that Bacolod will provide the listed venues for the games and these venues “must be free from any ‘commercial commitments' and assign to Philsoc all marketing and broadcast rights.”

In addition, Bacolod “must honor and respect all commercial and marketing commitments entered into by the POC, PHILSOC and its authorized agents in connection with during (sic) the 23 rd SEA Games.”

What will Bacolod get in return for its waiver vis-à-vis the commercial and marketing rights in favor of Philsoc?

Under the MOU, Philsoc will provide “eighty percent (80 percent) of the net revenues generated from ‘local sponsors' subject to specific terms and conditions” to the city.*

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