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TEODORO WANTS A FULL ACCOUNTING OF BCDA MONEY FOR THE MILITARY
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. is demanding an audit of money earned by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority from former military properties.
Teodoro said BCDA had remitted only about ₱45 billion for Armed Forces modernization over 26 years. He argued that the military should receive a clearer accounting and threatened legal action if the records are not provided.
The ₱45 billion figure should not be compared directly with BCDA’s total revenue or its full contribution to the Armed Forces.
BCDA reported that, from 1993 to October 2023, it had contributed ₱78.34 billion to the military. Of that amount, ₱48.59 billion went to the Armed Forces modernization program and ₱29.75 billion went to the construction or replacement of military facilities.
Teodoro’s figure may refer only to modernization funds and may cover an earlier period. The figures are close enough that they do not prove BCDA withheld money.
Republic Act No. 7917 allocates 35 percent of net proceeds from the sale of certain Metro Manila military properties to several military purposes. These include modernization, new camps, military hospitals and the government arsenal.
The formula applies after expenses connected to the property sale are deducted. BCDA also earns money from leases, joint ventures and other transactions that may follow different allocation rules.
WHAT TO WATCH
BCDA should release a year-by-year table separating property sales, leases, joint ventures, expenses, modernization funds and military construction. The audit should show if every remittance followed the formula required by law and explain exactly what Teodoro’s ₱45 billion covers.
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