Old PEA board is out, insists Malacañang

President Arroyo considers the entire board of directors of the Public Estates Authority (PEA), except for retired Armed Forces chief Gen. Diomedio Villanueva, to have resigned more than two weeks ago, when she asked them to quit.

Mrs. Arroyo named Villanueva officer-in-charge of the Office of the Chairman, but the PEA is being run by Public Works and Highways Secretary Simeon Datumanong as officer-in-charge of the Office of the General Manager.

Speaking at a press conference at Malacañang yesterday, Mrs. Arroyo said former director Martin Salcedo was the first to step down after she issued the call for the PEA board to resign, following allegations that construction of the P600-million President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard in the reclamation area in Pasay and Parañaque cities had been overpriced.

"If there are members of the regular board of (PEA) directors, the ones on leave, and if anyone wish to submit their resignation, I shall be pleased to accept their resignations, without prejudice to the prosecution which will be recommended by the Department of Justice or the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo said the controversial project is being investigated by the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, and the Office of the Ombudsman.

"So therefore I would say that the chances of an objective investigation is very high," she said.

"When people found it (to be) scandalous ... you have to make sure that investigation is also perceived to be very objective, and therefore the less the ones being investigated to have an influence by being in their position the better."

However, former PEA board chairman Ernest Villareal said he and the remaining board of directors would not resign unless their names had been cleared.

On the other hand, former representative Rodolfo Tuazon announced at a press conference yesterday he had resigned from the PEA board, effective Oct. 30.

Tuazon, who was named to the PEA last April, said he stepped down so his critics, especially those in the media, would have no more reason to accuse him of hanging on to the post.

"I have my own reasons for resigning," he said. "Like Mr. (Jose Mari) Gerochi, I am a political animal. I consulted my constituents who told me that resigning was not an admission of guilt."

Villareal and the other directors do not know that he has already submitted his letter of resignation to Mrs. Arroyo, Tuazon added.

Meanwhile PEA director Sulficio Tagud Jr., who exposed the alleged overpricing, said Mrs. Arroyo’s statement is "equivalent to firing" members of the board, whose fixed terms end on 2004.

"But I’m not going to question (Mrs. Arroyo’s) decision," he said.