Fariñas’ Bitterness on Imee Marcos Shows when he Questioned P66.45M Cash Advance

Imee Marcos’ lawyer, Joseph Cadiz slams the allegations of House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas who allegedly uncovered cash advance checks amounting to P66,450,000 in tobacco funds as premature politicking.

The tobacco funds questioned were used by the Ilocos Norte provincial government to buy the following motor vehicles, said Fariñas:

• P18,600,000 on December 1, 2011 for 40 barangay mini-cabs
• P15,300,000 on May 25, 2012, for 5 secondhand buses
• P32,550,000 on September 12, 2012, for 70 Municipality Foton mini trucks

Fariñas, incumbent Ilocos Norte 1st District representative, and former governor said barangay captains in his district were complaining they were given mini-cabs that did not have documents.  They could not use their budget in the barangay for fuel because these vehicles are not booked or documented as owned by the barangays

Fariñas seems to put all the blame on the governor, Imee Marcos. This is just because she signed the requests and approved the checks which are the protocol.  Since 1998, the Fariñas and Marcos families political relationship is on and off in Ilocos Norte after the late president Ferdinand Marcos died in 1989.

In 2015, the Marcoses finally cut ties with Fariñas. They dropped him from their “One-Ilocos Norte” line-up which could cause the bitterness he felt. The situation can easily be handled properly if his intention is to ease the burden of the barangay captains. A discrete dialogue with the governor can certainly help. Since he opted to announce this to the media as immediate accusations, then he has his own political motive.