Angara vs Palafox

The almost boxing-like match between Senator Ed Angara and Architect Jun Palafox is beginning to be a reality show, but it would seem the verbal tussle is reaching serious new levels now that the architect has filed graft charges before the Office of the Ombudsman against the senator.

Prior to this sour note, Palafox Associates – the design and architecture firm founded by Jun – was chosen to develop a master plan for the Aurora Pacific Ecozone and Freeport Authority (Apeco) located in Casiguran, Quezon Province in November 2008 with the design contract amounting to P32 million. Angara authored the law creating the Aurora Special Economic Zone Authority which was later amended to pave the way for Apeco.

 According to Apeco (whose Board includes the senator’s congressman son Juan Edgardo and sister, Aurora Governor Bellaflor Angara Castillo as members and named in the graft complaint), the architecture firm asked for a supplemental contract a few months after the contract was awarded supposedly to cover hydrologic studies and other surveys not covered by the original contract. Apparently, things began to unravel sometime in 2009 when Palafox billed Apeco over P8 million as outstanding balance – which the Ecozone board refused to pay saying that (payments for) the surveys were already covered by the original contract. At the same time, several government agencies, namely the Philippine Ports Authority, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines as well as the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) issued an opinion declaring the Palafox Master Plan as useless due to the proposed seaport’s proximity to an airport. Palafox was fired shortly thereafter.

The architect however claims he was fired because he told Angara that Casiguran was not suitable as an ecozone because the area is prone to flooding and liquefaction, even calling it “a wrong project at the wrong place and at the wrong time.” Pretty soon, people began to sense the tension between the erstwhile development “partners” who were noticeably avoiding each other during social functions.

No doubt this issue is being watched with keen interest by many people, with some rooting for the “green” architect/urban planner who in the past has also managed to land in newspaper headlines for denouncing the planned hotel-casino project within SBMA, which he said would “massacre” 366 trees in the area. Palafox was later slapped with a libel case by the SBMA bids and awards committee for claiming that an official had asked him for grease money.

There are some however who describe the architect as “publicity hungry” and believe he’s just out for “recognition mileage.” Aside from firing Palafox from the ecozone project, Apeco has also lodged a complaint against Jun before the Professional Regulations Commission allegedly for violating the code of ethics of architects and environmental planners, describing the urban planner’s work as sloppy and claiming that he robbed Apeco blind. 

Spy Bits sources say Angara is already preparing to file a counter criminal fraud case against the architect with the powerful ACCRA law firm (which the senator founded) likely in his corner for legal assistance. Incidentally, Ed will be celebrating his 77th birthday this Saturday at the Sofitel. Ed is the longest serving senator in the post-EDSA senate, and he told Spy Bits he will continue to serve his constituents for as long as he is alive. “I will not allow stupid things like this to stop me,” he was heard saying.

People Asia’s new look

People Asia magazine will unveil its new look during its annual “Women of Style and Substance” event at the Edsa Shangri-La hotel. The Stargate board decided to give the magazine a new logo to make it totally distinct from the US People Weekly magazine. The new logo will fit perfectly with the sleek look of the magazine especially with its digital version that has already reached close to 10,000 subscribers since its launch three months ago. The iPad app version continues to generate a lot of interest, with the number of downloads continuously increasing.

People Asia’s cover girl for the current issue, Anne Curtis, is one of the most followed personalities in the social networking site Twitter, and joining her in the issue are other women of style and substance such as Cristalle Henares (daughter of celebrity dermatologist Vicki Belo), Philippine Star columnist Mons Romulo, breast cancer survivor Ann Puno and many others.

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