Espat on Mira Scandal: ‘Can’t Throw This Under the Rug’
The controversy surrounding government contracts awarded to members of Minister of Home Affairs Oscar Mira’s family is expected to reach the Cabinet table next week. Cabinet minister Julius Espat told News Five that the issue is too serious to ignore.
Espat’s comments come as scrutiny intensifies over a series of contracts linked to Mira’s siblings, including newly surfaced records showing that MP Farms, a company reportedly owned by Brian Mira, received forty-four separate payments totaling $389,796.85 in a single day.
Espat said the allegations present an opportunity for government to take a closer look at what has happened. “All of these things that are happening and have happened in the past should give us an opportunity to learn and to better.”
Espat expects the matter to be discussed when Cabinet convenes next week. According to him, the issue cannot simply disappear from public view. “It will come up. It has to come up. It can’t, something like this can’t be thrown under the rug. It has to be discussed, analyzed. It has to be looked at closely.”
Espat said Prime Minister John Briceño will ultimately have to determine the best course of action after all the facts are reviewed. He noted that Cabinet ministers serve at the Prime Minister’s discretion and that any decision regarding Mira’s future rests solely with him.
“I don’t know the facts, the details. But we will find out, because I believe everyone is compiling the details and he has a right to defend himself,” he said.
Espat added that Cabinet members also have a responsibility to express their views as the matter unfolds. “We have a right to voice our opinion. At the end of the day we hope we can make the right decision.”
The latest controversy centers on documents obtained by News Five that show MP Farms, reportedly owned by Brian Mira, receiving forty-four separate payments on September 25, 2025. The records indicate that the invoices were issued consecutively, from invoice number 1093 to 1136, with every payment falling below the $10,000 mark despite totaling nearly $390,000 combined.
The revelations add to previous questions surrounding government contracts awarded to other members of the Mira family, including payments made to Jenny Mira and a separate contract reportedly involving Stanley Mira.
Oscar Mira denied having any involvement in the awarding of contracts to his relatives. “I sit on no procurement committee as the minister of state and as minister I have never been on anyone of those procurement committees,” Mira said.
“I have no say. I have no influence and I have never in my ministry, or any other ministry, try to influence the decision of that committee.”
Mira also distanced himself from questions surrounding the unusual payment trail involving his siblings, saying he has no role in how suppliers are paid by government. “I don’t have anything to do with how government pays their contractors or suppliers,” he said. “I really don’t know how those payments were made that way.”
Although he acknowledged that the matter has generated negative public perception, Mira maintained that he is not responsible for either the procurement process or the payment system.
For Espat, however, the issue now requires careful examination at the highest levels of government. “I hope that he can answer the questions properly and if it is that they are in error then a decision has to be made,” Espat said. “I don’t know what that decision will be. Those decisions are solely the role of the prime minister.”