Bistek on Tulfo's column

An excerpt from Ramon Tulfo's column, On Target on Philippine Daily Inquirer dated April 14, 2010:

Quezon City Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista, who is running for mayor, probably committed graft during his term when he justified the huge amount in his budget as spent on food and drinks.

Bautista’s yearly budget as vice mayor is P300 million yearly.

I was furnished documents showing that in 2009, Bautista spent P98 million for food and drinks, P83 million in 2008 for food and drinks and P33 million in 2007 for food and drinks.

All expenses for food and drinks were covered under “emergency purchase.”

Under the law, an emergency purchase is undertaken during calamities like earthquakes and typhoons, and is limited to only P50,000.

Example: On Jan. 16, 2009, Bautista’s office claimed he spent P1 million on food and drinks, divided into P50,000 for each check voucher.

It’s impossible for Bautista to have spent P1 million on food and drinks in one day.

But that’s what the documents showed—he spent millions of pesos every day on “emergency purchases” of food and drinks.

* * *

A person has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to the law. But the evidence speaks for itself. Tulfo has a point. I mean what kind of person spends millions of pesos on "emergency purchases" almost everyday? How would he explain that? He never attends forums and debates organized by the people of QC so how would he explain his side? I mean, if the accusation is not true, then why is he hiding from the people?