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Presidential Office vows to mete out more discipline

The Presidential Office yesterday vowed to further punish two of its officials who have admitted accepting free meals from a contractor they were supposed to be supervising if prosecutors find they committed any more illegal acts.

"We would never try to conceal anything that the pair did or any illegal behavior they got up to if the allegations are proved to be true," said David Lee (李南陽), the Presidential Office's director-general of public affairs.

In addition to expressing regret over the incident, Lee said that since the matter was still under investigation, the office would wait until the case was wrapped up before deciding whether to dole out harsher punishment.

Lee said that the two officials, Chen Hsi-kuan (陳錫寬) and Huang Jien-shun (黃建勛) of the Third Bureau of Procurement, had been transferred to new positions and made to pay back the value of the tickets and other expenses to the contractor.

The two admitted that they went to a karaoke parlor after the meal with the contractor, but denied that they accepted escort services.

In a bid to learn more about the incident, Lee said that on March 8 the Presidential Office asked the Taipei Prosecutors' Office to investigate the matter further.

The Apple Daily newspaper reported yesterday that Chen and Huang flew to Kaohsiung in January to attend the year-end banquet of a contractor that won a Presidential Office construction project.

The two officials then went to an escort bar after the meal and accepted escort services with the contractor picking up the bill, the report alleged.

The then deputy secretary-general of the Presidential Office James Huang (黃志芳) was reportedly furious when he was informed of the matter and ordered an investigation into the allegation, the report said.
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