The lawyer of former Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo maintained that Teo鈥檚 brother, Ben Tulfo, told him he would return the P60 million he received from the Department of Tourism (DOT) as payment for advertisements in his show at state-run PTV-4.
鈥淢ay 3 po siya nagtext na tatawag siya. Nababanaag ko sa kanyang tinig na he was in pain dahil doon sa nangyaring P60 million na 鈥榶un na tinanggap ng Bitag [Media]鈥� at sabi nga niya ibabalik niya 鈥榶ung pera,鈥� said lawyer Ferdinand Topacio in an interview over DZBB on Sunday.
(He sent a text message on May 3. I can sense from his voice that he was in pain because of the P60 million that Bitag Media received鈥� he said he will return the money.)
Tulfo recently insisted that he would not return the money which he denied stealing from the government.
READ: Teo bro won鈥檛 return P60M 鈥榚ven if your eyes turn white鈥�
Topacio said he has no idea why Tulfo retracted his earlier pronouncement.
鈥淪abi nga lang niya sa akin, hindi agad-agad (maibabalik) sapagkat iyan ay hindi naman dumating [ng buo] 鈥榶ung P60 million鈥� Sabi niya may napaggastusan na raw 鈥榶an, production etc.,鈥� he said.
(He said that he won鈥檛 be able to return it immediately because they also didn鈥檛 receive it in full. Part of it was already spent for production, etc. )
鈥淜ung hindi totoo na sinabi niya sa akin na ibabalik niya, bakit ngayon lang po niya itinanggi? Agosto na po ngayon eh. Eh May 7 ko in-announce na magbabalik siya (ng pera)鈥� kung sana di po totoo 鈥榶un, nag-react agad siya,鈥� he added.
(If it鈥檚 not true that he told me he will return the money, why is he is denying it only now? It鈥檚 already August, I announced that he will return the money on May 7. He should have retracted his statement immediately.)
The controversy surrounding the DOT ad placements on Tulfo鈥檚 show, 鈥淜ilos Pronto鈥� led to Teo鈥檚 resignation as tourism chief.
The Commission on Audit flagged the ad placements as a case of conflict of interest and a possible violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. /ee
READ: COA: Teo鈥檚 DOT paid P60M for ads on brother Tulfo鈥檚 PTV 4 show