Teo, PTV blame each other on why DOT ad was placed in ‘Kilos Pronto’

Former Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo and an official of state-run People's Television (PTV) Network pointed at each other when asked who decided to enter into a P60-million advertising deal with Bitag Media Unlimited’s Kilos Pronto headed by Ben Tulfo.

During a legislative inquiry, Senator Richard Gordon, Blue Ribbon committee chairman, asked why Kilos Pronto was specified in the advertising contract.

Dino Antonio Apolonio, PTV president/general manager, said Kilos Pronto was already indicated in the initial draft of the contract when they received it from the Department of Tourism (DOT).

Teo denied this and said: “That’s not true. Sila (PTV) ang nagbigay ng proposal sa amin.”

She added that no one told her that Kilos Pronto was produced by her brother's Bitag.

“Hindi ko alam na si Ben (Tulfo) ay Kilos Pronto. All I know of is Ben is with Bitag. Contract is between PTV 4 and DOT.  Beyond that hindi ko alam kung saan ilalagay ang ads,” she said.

She added that had she known, she would not have signed the contract.

“They could have told me, hindi ko alam. Had I known, I would not have signed the contract,” she added.

For her part, Tourism Undersecretary Katherine de Castro, head of the bids and awards committee, also said that she did not know Ben heads Bitag when they decided to procure TV spot placements in PTV.

Asked by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV if she was aware that Bitag is owned by the then-DOT secretary’s brother, De Castro said she did not know at the time.

She said she only learned of it when the issue was all over the media.

“Ito lang pong May na pinag-uusapan na po,” she said.

De Castro said Ben Tulfo was not in the meeting when they were discussing the matter with PTV 4.

Trillanes told De Castro that she is “in the middle of this conspiracy whether you like it or not” because it was her responsibility, as BAC head, to ensure the regularity of transactions.

Conflict of interest

Apolonio said when they received the contract, they did not consider there could have been any conflict of interest in the deal.

“Nu’ng natanggap namin, we were not thinking of conflict of interest. As far as PTV 4 is concerned, we don’t have any conflict of interest with either party. Wala kaming  conflict of interest sa DOT at sa Kilos Pronto,” he said.

Gordon then asked if the PTV officials did not notice that the one signing the contract on behalf of the DOT was a Tulfo and the one signing on behalf of Kilos Pronto was also a Tulfo.

“Ang pumirma ng kontrata Ben Tulfo, manggagaling ang pera sa DOT na ang nakapirma Wanda Tulfo-Teo, it did not ring any bells to you?” he said.

Apolonio said what they were thinking at the time was the revenue PTV will be getting.

He said the state-run company received P20 million in revenues as a result of the deal.

Gordon also questioned why PTV placed advertisement in a program that is not among those who have high ratings.

Apolonio said they considered the format of the program.

“Napasama ang Kilos Pronto dahil sa format. E besides putting the commercial spots of DOT, we are also producing a travel show for DOT. Kung pababayaan na mag umpisa ang  travel show baka hindi magkaroon ng traction,” he explained.

Gordon said it seems the DOT did not think things through when deciding how to use its advertising budget.

“Hindi ginamit ng DOT nang buong ang ulo nila,” he said.

Gordon is a former Tourism secretary who popularized the tag “Wow Philippines.” — MDM/RSJ, GMA News