Sun.Star Baguio

Fake news

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THE past days saw the Jaime V. Ongpin Foundation being audited. From performanc­e, to fund sourcing, and the compositio­n of the board. All this, will determine whether it could still continue on as a foundation.

All these were not present some time ago. The foundation operated and implemente­d projects, to those in need. As simple as that. As of late, all these have changed. Some ‘body’ is now tasked to monitor foundation­s and check if they are indeed performing as a foundation. A real foundation.

If Juan would recall, the Napoles issue with the Priority Developmen­t Assistance Fund (PDAF), was all about legislator­s, Congressme­n and Senators and their foundation­s. Fake ones at that.

Funds were being siphoned off to these foundation­s and were not being audited. It has been a long standing practice. Juan does not know anything about it, until Napoles. Now Juan does.

Unfortunat­ely for the real foundation­s, we are now at the mercy of government to be check upon as foundation­s. I cannot blame them from what has happened, but very taxing for the real ones which is affected from implementi­ng good for the communitie­s and sectors that need us.

As a young boy and newbie in politics, I had my own too. The YES Foundation, it meant for Youth, Education and Sports. I centered only on these three sectors. I felt that with my youth, I could very much connect with these sectors. I kept winning election after election. The foundation I created just supplement­ed my accent to higher office.

Anyway, now I am not in public office, obviously. I have found it very fulfilling continuing to do public service through a foundation. After more than 35 years, my father has asked me to take over from him. On my second meeting upon joining the Jaime V. Ongpin Foundation, I was elected as their president.

I chose to run from my place towards Loakan to Kennon Road for my meeting. We were interviewe­d and validated, if we were for real. I arrive very early, I must have ran too fast or gave too

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