MANILA — Malacañang on Monday said that it will be conducting its own investigation on an advertisement deal between the Department of Tourism (DOT) and state-run PTV 4 which the Commission on Audit (COA) questioned for not being supported by proper documents.
The COA, in a report published on its website on Friday, said that the DOT under Secretary Wanda Teo last year paid PHP60 million for the placement of advertisements in the PTV 4 show “Kilos Pronto”, which is produced and hosted by her brothers Ben and Erwin Tulfo.
Its findings showed that there was no memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed to air the advertisements.
Roque said that the Palace accepted the findings but will still be conducting its own probe into the issue.
“We have to accept the findings of COA. I understand it is a final finding, but the Palace will investigate on its own,” Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a Palace briefing.
Roque said that the Palace will only decide on the next course of action once the investigation is completed.
“The President (Rodrigo R. Duterte) will look into it, there will be some kind of an investigation conducted, and Palace will decide the course of action,” Roque said.
Roque said that investigating questionable deals is nothing new and has been done by the Duterte administration several times before.
“How many times have we done this? I think I’ve been here almost six months there’s been quite a number of news reports that were investigated by the Palace and actions taken by the President,” Roque said.
When asked if Teo should resign following the COA’s findings, Roque said that there is “no reason” for her to leave pending investigation.
For her part, Teo denied reports that she signed a contract under a production company under her brothers, noting that it was a government to government contract.
“The contract was between PTV 4 and DOT. I don’t care if they decide to place them on my brother’s show. So there’s no conflict of interest,” Teo said in a press conference at the DOT.
Teo said that she was told that the ads were placed on “Kilos Pronto” since they had high ratings. However, she said that her agency also places ads in other TV networks including GMA, CNN and Discovery Channel.