Saga of ADB’s Mr. Gana

Mr. Gana is Gnanathurai Nagarajah, perhaps the most admired among the officers of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) based in the Philippines.

There are many reasons why Mr. Gana is so well-liked by Filipinos, particularly those who move around the diplomatic circle. One is his soft-spoken manner. Filipinos have been so used to the over-bearing deportment of expatriates that when someone so unassuming like Mr. Gana comes along, he is quick to be admired.

Another reason is the fact that Mr. Gana, a Malaysian, is married to a Filipina. The 15-year old marriage has brought forth four children who mirror the beauty of the Malay race.

A third reason is that during one of the country’s darkest moments, Mr. Gana stood by the side of Filipinos. That moment was when Filipino diplomat Lito Nayan was held captive by kidnappers in Kabul, Afghanistan. It is well-known in diplomatic circles that Mr. Gana tapped his extensive network of friends in that Central Asian country to help secure the release of our compatriot. By virtue of that act alone, Mr. Gana is, for all intents and purposes, a Filipino at heart.

These are the reasons why the local business and diplomatic communities are bothered by reports of what Mr. Gana is going through at the ADB. Many were shocked by reports that he has been suspended from his post as an Advisor at the Office of the Director General of its South Asia Department.

Our friends at the ADB cannot recall any previous case where a senior officer of the ADB has been suspended on flimsy charges that has yet to be conclusively proven. They said that Mr. Gana’s case has seriously damaged the morale of ADB’s staff members.

Equally shocking to Filipinos who know and admire him are allegations that his suspension was based on mere accusations by a European defense supplier who lost on a bidding for a project in Afghanistan that was supervised by Mr. Gana. "Bald allegations of a losing bidder" is how the whole mess is being described in local coffee shops. Filipinos are so used to this ploy. But they are shocked that someone like Mr. Gana should fall victim to it, and that the alleged perpetrator is supposed to be a respected global giant.

Our friends at the ADB also intimated that Mr. Gana was suspended following allegations that the losing bidder reimbursed the plane ticket used by Mr. Gana’s wife for her trip to Europe some time in 2003. The losing bidder apparently showed ADB scanned copies of a provisional receipt for the plane ticket. That provisional receipt, they added, remain with the losing bidder – the original is yet to be formally seen by ADB. His friends say the official receipt that was turned in by Mr. Gana to the ADB for reimbursement, is nowhere to be found although Mr. Gana has been reimbursed for his wife’s trip to Europe by the ADB.

Moreover, Mr. Gana is said to have produced the cancelled cheque that he used to pay for his wife’s trip to Europe. Such concrete evidence is apparently not good enough for the ADB whereas the mere allegation brought against him by the losing defense contractor became reason enough for the ADB to suspend him pending investigation. His friends are concerned that the reputational damage that such action brings to Mr. Gana cannot be rectified by any amount of monetary compensation.

What is causing outrage among Mr. Gana’s friends is the fact that when his wife made the trip to Europe in 2003 (which was supposed to have been reimbursed by the losing bidder), there was no project yet being bid out by the ADB. The project bidding overseen by Mr. Gana for the ADB in Afghanistan in which the losing bidder participated took place more than a year later. It is both comic and absurd, coffee shop observers say, that the losing bidder would "bribe" Mr. Gana at a time when the bidding was not even on paper yet.

There are too many loopholes in the scheme against Mr. Gana, they point out.

Now, Mr. Gana’s lawyers have reportedly been asking the losing bidder to explain its allegations and verify how they obtained the scanned copy of the provisional receipt. To date, the losing bidder has yet to answer the lawyers’ plea.

Mr. Gana’s friends in the business and diplomatic communities are wondering if the amiable ADB officer is merely the object of a smear job. The fear has been boosted, they say, by reports filtering out of the ADB that Mr. Gana’s computer may have been hacked and false emails may have been planted in his inbox simply to enhance the accusations.

There are also reports that Mr. Gana, who has served ADB for over 15 years, is not particularly liked by some non-Asian officials of the financial institution. His friends are hoping this is not merely a case of an Asian being discriminated against in the development bank for Asia.

In the traditional Filipino spirit of reciprocity, his friends in this country are praying that Mr. Gana would have a fair and impartial hearing at the ADB. They are hoping that the ADB would also look deep into the possible motive of those who have charged Mr. Gana. They believe the ADB would uphold the time-honored principle of "presumption of innocence" until one is proven guilty.

We join them in the hope that Mr. Gana would also have the chance to confront his accuser, the losing bidder who alleged that they paid for Mrs. Gana’s trip to Europe one year before a bidding has even been announced for an ADB project in Afghanistan. We hope they can substantiate what appears to Filipinos as a trumped up charge. Otherwise, this European supplier, and whoever it is at the ADB that is in connivance with them, would be the laughing stock of Filipino coffee shop habitués.

The ploy of losing bidders to get back at bidding committees has already been perfected in this country. And the ploy-makers here always come up with plausible scripts to demolish those who deprive them of the contract. The way things appear, this European supplier is an amateur in this game.

The ADB has been a long-time partner of the Philippines. This is perhaps the reason there is a lot of anger and disappointment in the local community following reports that this high respected institution could be unfair to one who has served it for almost two decades.

Expect the local community to keep a close watch over developments in the saga of Mr. Gana. We just could not leave a friend to suffer alone. He did not, when we, Filipinos, needed help in Afghanistan.

For comments, e-mail at [email protected]