Guv joins as party complainant in raps vs. ousted MCIAA chief

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has joined as party complainant in the five criminal and administrative charges earlier filed against ousted Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority general manager Adelberto Yap before the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas over his alleged anomalous transactions.

The MCIAA board, during its regular meeting yesterday, also passed a resolution en masse expressing their move to join the governor as complainants in the five cases filed against Yap before the Ombudsman.

Garcia, who also sits as member of the MCIAA board, said she read the complaint earlier filed by MCIAA administrative manager Rogelio Yaun against Yap for alleged violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees and found enough evidence of wrongdoing.

Early on, Yaun filed a complaint against Yap and Veronica Ordoñez and Sigfredo Dublin, chairperson and members of the bids and awards committee, respectively over the alleged anomalous purchase of 20 units of handheld radio in June of last year.

Yaun said that Yap together with Ordoñez and Dublin have violated the anti-graft and corrupt practices act for entering, on behalf of the government, into contract manifestly and grossly disadvantageous to the government.

Further, the MCIAA board during its meeting yesterday afternoon decided to suspend the contract with Young Builders Inc. for the P120-million contract on the ongoing construction of the airport's administration building "upon uncovering several highly questionable issues."

The issues reportedly involved "millions of originally included items, now mysteriously deleted in the scope of work and yet by some stroke of inexplicable mystery the contract price remains the same," according to the governor.

The deleted items reportedly cost P24 million.

The suspension order is going to take effect until a more thorough investigation would be conducted and until persons involved in the bidding process for such project would submit acceptable explanation. The rate of accomplishment for the said project is already within 38 percent to 39 percent. - Fred P. Languido and Cristina C. Birondo