Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Bayani Fernando has admitted receiving cash gifts from officials of the Metro Manila Film Festival but said this was monetary recognition of his contribution to the record-breaking revenues of the movie body and didn’t constitute fund misuse.

During Wednesday’s Senate hearing on the alleged misuse of MMFF funds, Fernando belied claims of Senator Jinggoy Estrada that MMDA has a hand in diverting the proceeds of MMFF, adding that it was the decision of the MMFF’s Executive Committee (Execom), whose members are among the pillars of the Philippine movie industry, to give him cash gifts.

“The gift, which I do not agree to be called a gift, that is being highlighted in the privilege speech of Senator Estrada, is not isolated because all sectors responsible for the success of the festival were likewise accordingly rewarded. The act of giving recognition for a good performance is a tradition since the inception of the MMFF,” said Fernando, who is also the ex-officio chairman of the MMFF.

Claiming that MMFF, as a private entity, maintains its private funds, Fernando described as baseless Estrada’s recommendation that the management of the movie body be transferred from the MMDA to the Movie Workers Welfare Foundation, Inc. (Mowelfund), which is founded by former President Joseph Estrada

“I have served the government for decades, and no institution of dishonesty or suspicion of impropriety has been made against me. I find comfort in the fact that my conscience is clear and I believe that the majority of the people in the movie industry hold me in high regard for the work I have done for them,” he said.