A lawyer has recently asked for the intervention of the Governance Commission for Government-owned and Controlled Corporation to commence their investigation following a complaint filed at the Office of the Ombudsman three years ago against officials of the Development Bank of the Philippines, Professional Regulations Commission, and DBP Data Center Inc. for the alleged improper use of electronic online payment of fees.

In his three-page letter to Justice Alex Quiroz (Ret.), chairperson of the Government Commission for GOCC, an attached agency of the Office of the President, lawyer Danilo Abaya Tiu sought the help of Quiroz regarding the complaint affidavit filed with the Ombudsman "concerning corrupt practices commitment through the improper use of electronic online payment of fees by top government officials of the PRC, DBP, and its DCI in conspiracy with Multisys Technologies Corporation and Multipay Corporation, both private corporations."

"We seek your help and intercession, Justice Quiroz because the complaint, filed on 3 March 2020, or approximately thirty-three months ago, remains uninvestigated, untouched and unresolved despite the long passage of time. And without your intercession, we are fearful that the complaint will be relegated to the dustbin of history, to be eventually declared moot," the letter of Atty. Tiu reads, which was sent to the GCG last 13 December 2022.

Named respondents in the corruption cases lodged at the Office of the Ombudsman three years ago were Atty. Emmanuel Galicia Jr., holdover DBP board director and president and chief executive officer of DCI; and Nilo Cruz, president of DCI.

Allegations

Allegations of corruption in those three government offices regarding the improper use of electronic online payment of fees have been exposed and formally brought before the Ombudsman through a formal complaint.

Atty. Tiu lodged a corruption complaint with the Ombudsman against DBP, PRC and DBP Data Center Inc. officials who allegedly conspired with Multisys Technologies Corporation and Multipay Corporation for the improper use of electronic online payment of fees.

Multisys is also part of the joint venture company currently serving as a financial technology (fintech) provider of the National Bureau of Investigation, the bidding for whose contract is now being evaluated by the line agency of the Department of Justice.

The joint venture also involves My EG and IPAY, which have been providing fintech services to the agency for the electronic payment of NBI clearances for more than eight years.

IPAY's fintech services have been riddled with complaints and clamor for improvement from the public, especially with the nagging hit status of Filipinos securing clearances from the NBI. Apparently, once an NBI clearance applicant gets a 'hit' status through a technical glitch, it does not go away in the IPAY system much to the detriment of the applicant who has to personally go back to the NBI and clear the hit status on his name every so often.

The growing public clamor against the inefficiency of the fintech provider has prompted the NBI to bid out its electronic online payment requirements starting last year, which attracted several interested proponents.