Newly appointed tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat has revealed that the media company owned by Ben Tulfo, one of the brothers of former tourism chief Wanda Tulfo-Teo has yet to return the P60-million paid by the Department of Tourism (DOT) for ad placements in his show on PTV 4.
In an interview with reporters, Puyat said Ben’s company, Bitag Media Unlimited Inc., has not yet given back the money that his lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, promised the company would do.
“It has not been returned,” Puyat said.
“Well, they said they would. But I will check again,” she added.
In his column, Ramon Tulfo said that Topacio was not speaking in their behalf when he made the promise to return the ad placement money.
Teo previously stepped down as DOT secretary after a report released by the Commission on Audit (CoA) raised concerns regarding dubious payments the DOT made for advertisements in Tulfo’s program ‘Kilos Pronto’, a show produced by Bitag Media and hosted by Ben Tulfo and brother Erwin.
Puyat was called on by President Rodrigo Duterte to replace Teo after the latter handed over her resignation amid the controversy.
