‘Forces’ behind Antiporda ouster?
SUSPENDED National Irrigation Administration chief Benny Antiporda has called on the Office of the Ombudsman not to allow itself to be used by ‘forces’ allegedly out to derail the Marcos administration’s campaign against corruption.
Antiporda said corruption at NIA is not a secret. While there may only be a few involved, they are very well-organized, he added.
The embattled government official believes a “syndicate” inside NIA is behind his ‘predicament’
He stressed that the complaint against him was “humiliating” to the appointing authority, President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.
Antiporda had urged the OMB to further investigate a legal case which NIA lost “due to a technicality” that resulted to the agency being ordered to pay more than P205 million to a contractor who failed to finish an irrigation project in Central Luzon.
Antiporda had also filed a complaint against another NIA official for betrayal of public interest, among others.
Antiporda alleged he was also urged to sign an irrigation contract worth more than P200 million but he refused.
Antiporda added he was also being prodded to approve another NIA project worth more than P800 million to “automate” the country’s existing dams but he again refused, saying he found “no logic” to the proposal that would not benefit the country’s farmers.
Meanwhile, the credibility of the complaint against Antiporda is now under question, after Eduardo G. Yu, NIAEASP president, issued a statement where he categorically disowned and denied their being cited as complainant against the NIA chief.
“The NIAEASP National Council during its meeting on September 5, 2022, passed NC Resolution No. 13-2022, expressing its solid support to Administrator Antiporda’s leadership. That resolution still stands and remains unchanged,” Yu said.
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