Guv: ‘No involvement in any PDAF anomaly’ ----------------------- Gov. Edgar Chatto has strongly denied involvement in any Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) irregularity. He categorically stated that all his communications to government implementing agencies of his PDAF projects contained a proviso which would in effect object to the participation of any non-compliant non-government organizations (NGOs). In other words, Chatto set a prior condition to implementing agencies against tapping NGOs if they could not strictly comply with all regulations and guidelines, including auditing rules, to qualify as project implementors. The regulations he consistently manifested to be observed also included the fundamental requisite accreditation by the agency concerned. Chatto had sent a letter even to the Commission on Audit (COA), reminding the agency of the condition precedent requiring compliance to COA rules, policies and guidelines. During his weekly live broadcast forum with the media dubbed the Kita ug Ang Gobernador, the governor welcomed the on-going inquiry to clarify issues. He believed the inquiry would clear the names of those not involved in any wrongdoing. Since the start of his public service career at age19, Chatto has kept faith in highest ethical standards as a public official and a servant leader. As governor, Chatto was conferred by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) the Dangal ng Bayan Award. He was honored through the Lingkod Bayan Award, also from the CSC, while serving as vice governor. No other Bohol official has ever been accorded both distinctions, which are regarded highest laurels in Philippine government service. Chatto said his over 30 years of dedicated and unblemished service to the people is a legacy he is determined to keep with Gods blessings. Among his advocacies is participatory and transparent governance pursuing the principle of shared leadership. To date, Chatto is among the public officials without any pending case at the Ombudsman, Sandiganbayan and CSC. KEEPING WORKS FOR BOHOL GOOD Meanwhile, the governor and mayors of Bohol early last week had a lengthy exclusive meeting in Manila with Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Sec. Florencio Abad and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Sec. Dinky Soliman on varied development programs. Transparency and accountability were highlighted as core values of governance that grace Bohol’s massive recovery effort and further magnify the province as a disaster resilience template. Bohol’s economic development and inclusive growth programs are strikingly compatible with the national agenda from basic poverty reduction strategy to infrastructure of complex benefits, all elemental to the serious rehabilitation process. Chatto has practically no break from rebuilding streak as he is obsessed to rebuild lives by right interventions that cause people to adopt right attitudes and adapt to right habitats for lesser---if not zero---risk in future times yet unknown. The important meeting coincided with the national assembly of mayors keynoted by Pres. Benigno S. Aquino III, who also inducted Chatto, as national secretary-general, and other officers of the governors’ league. On Friday, the Bohol leader was a panel speaker on disaster response during the Summit of the Asia Pacific Council of American Chamber of Commerce (APCAC) at the New World Hotel. American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AMCHAM - Philippines) Exec. Dir. Ebb Hinchliffe formally invited Chatto to speak in the summit, which was themed “Asia’s Resurgence and America’s Role.” Chatto was joined in the speaker’s panel by Gloria Steel, mission director of the United States Assistance for International Development (USAID). Before he ended his diplomatic post last year, then US Amb. Harry Thomas, Jr. returned to Bohol and lauded the province as one of the success stories of USAID collaborations in the Philippines. Apart from his affection for Bohol governance under Chatto, the former American envoy has another lasting emotional attachment that must give Bohol an infinite tenure of Thomas’ heart. It was in Panglao island, a prime Bohol tourism destination, where Thomas got engaged on March 30 last year to a Filipina from the southern Philippine tip province of Jolo named Mithi Aquino, a front desk trainer of the cruiser Holland America Line. Chatto wished the best of life for Thomas, who ultimately married Aquino at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Manhattan, New York just last Sunday, March 15, or almost exactly a year since her “Yes” to him in Bohol. (Ven rebo Arigo)
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 07:30:11 +0000