Nora appears, Diaz faces arrest

This is for real, Paquito.

Movie actor Paquito Diaz faces arrest if he ignores for the second time a summons to appear before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee to shed light on his alleged involvement in a reportedly anomalous bidding for the purchase of firetrucks.

According to a losing bidder, Diaz and movie actress Nora Aunor -- close friends of President Estrada-- peddled their influence to help Columbian Motor Corp. bag a P304-million contract for the purchase of 100 firetrucks for the Bureau of Fire Protection.

Aunor, who campaigned for Mr. Estrada in the 1998 elections, appeared before the Senate panel which held its first hearing yesterday and vehemently denied the accusations. She claimed she did not involve herself in any transaction that would embarrass the President.

"Talagang wala akong alam diyan (I really had nothing to do with that.)," she told the committee headed by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel.

Aunor said lots of people approach her asking for some assistance but she has never allowed herself to be used by any party to get favors from the President.

Miffed by Diaz's absence, Pimentel told Aunor to tell Diaz to show up next time or else. "Pakisabi kay Paquito Diaz na ipapahuli namin siya 'pag hindi pa siya haharap dito (You tell Paquito Diaz that we will have him arrested if he fails to appear here)," he said.

The same warning was given to Jose Alvarez, president of Columbian Motors Corp.

Committee vice chairman Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile appeared inclined to believe Aunor. "In my own impression it seems that Ms. Aunor has nothing to do with that problem," he said.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, who also appeared at the hearing, bolstered Aunor's claim. He said published bidding documents naming Aunor and Diaz as sponsors of Columbian Motors are fake.

"We investigated the published documents and we found them to be fabricated and not part of the official bidding documents," Diokno said.

The multimillion-peso contract, Diokno added, has not yet been awarded because the President ordered a rebidding for the contract immediately after the controversy broke out last March 13.

Yolanda Ramos, chief operating officer of losing bidder Pilipinas Daeyang Heavy Industrial Corp., claimed that Aunor and Diaz persuaded the budget department's Inter-Agency Bids and Awards Committee (IABAC) and the Presidential Management Staff to favor Columbian Motors. Columbian distributes Kia, Mazda and BMW cars in the country.

Ramos said their bid was P23.5 million lower than that of Columbian. But IABAC, Ramos alleged, gave Columbian extra points on technical factors that enabled it to edge out her company by a mere 0.07 point.

Diokno, bids committee chairman Eduardo Opida and procurement services director Estanislao Granados Jr. had already denied rigging the bidding.

Ramos had vowed to step forward and reveal all to prove her allegations.

Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora earlier explained that the real reason for the rebidding was that Diokno and the IABAC gave different recommendations on the bidding results.

The bids committee had said the contract should go to Columbian. Diokno had recommended that it be split between the two contesting firms.