Charges filed over road scam

Graft charges were filed yesterday before the Sandiganbayan against 26 government officials and a private contractor after the Office of the Ombudsman found they had connived to overprice the 5.1-kilometer President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard (PDMB) in Parañaque City.

Government lawyers said officials of the Public Estates Authority (PEA) conspired to unlawfully pay contractor Jesusito Legaspi, president of the J.D. Legaspi construction firm, the total amount, which was "clearly improper, illegal and without the requisite presidential approval."

Chief special prosecutor Dennis Villa Ignacio, who led the filing of charges, said the lawsuit was only for graft because the evidence gathered by investigators fell short of the requirement for the filing of plunder charges. Should there be additional evidence, however, Villa Ignacio said government lawyers will amend the information on the case right away.

"The evidence was not enough. There was no proof that they benefited from the overpricing," he said. "But, if new evidence crops up, then we will definitely modify the case to plunder."

Bail of P30,000 was recommended for each of the respondents by the Office of the Special Prosecutor, whose lawyers filed the case before the Sandiganbayan early yesterday afternoon.

Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo said the PEA board gave unwarranted benefits and undue advantage to Legaspi by "illegally awarding" the PDMB construction project to the contractor "despite the lack of compliance with the mandatory requirements and procedure for bidding." Marcelo said that while the acts of the government officials charged seemed to be independent of each other, they "were in fact connected" in granting unwarranted benefits to J.D. Legaspi.

Charged with Legaspi before the Sandiganbayan were PEA officials Francisco San Juan, Carlos Doble, Carmelita de Leon-Chan, Daniel Dayan, Salvador Malbrosa, Leo Padilla, Elpidio Damaso, Ernest Villareal, Benjamin Cariño, Joemari Gerochi, Angelito Villanueva, Martin Sanciego Jr., Rodolfo Tuazon, Ernesto Enriquez, Jaime Milan, Manuel Berina Jr., Bernardo Viray, Theron Lacson, Raphael Pocholo Zorilla and Christina Amposta-Mortel.

Also charged were Commission on Audit (COA) officials Manuela de la Paz, Arturo Layug, Benilda Mendoza, Epifanio Pureza, Jose Capistrano and Ma. Cecilia de la Rama.

The plunder charges against Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) chairman Winston Garcia, chief presidential legal counsel Avelino Cruz Jr., Department of Justice (DOJ) chief state counsel Elmer Bautista, former environment secretary Fulgencio Factoran, Reynaldo Palmiery, Florencio Ibañez, Aida Nocete and Leovigildo Arellano were dismissed due to lack of evidence.

"The grant of the (P1 billion) loan to PEA by the GSIS is a management decision which cannot be substituted or interfered with even by the court absent any showing that the GSIS board of trustees acted with bad faith and without authority," a separate, eight-page Ombudsman resolution stated.

Government lawyers said that no matter how they look at it, the P1 billion loan granted by the GSIS to PEA "is very much favorable to the GSIS," mainly because it will "earn interest of at least 14 percent and (be) secured by a real estate mortgage on a prime property."

Meanwhile, former PEA director and scam whistleblower Sulficio Tagud yesterday expressed relief over the recommendation of the Office of the Ombudsman.

In a press conference, Tagud lauded the Ombudsman’s move and encouraged other people — be they part of the private sector or government service — to come out and expose anomalies in government and help fight corruption in the country.

"I was relieved that, finally, a concrete action was taken regarding this matter (PDMB scam)," he said. "This is a very clear signal for those who have been conspiring, or (are) still conspiring, (to get) the money of the people from the government."

Tagud said he was ready to testify before the Sandiganbayan regarding the irregularities surrounding the construction of the 5.1-kilometer PDMB.

Tagud’s lawyer, Rachel Pastores of the Public Interest Law Center, expressed confidence that the direct bribery charges against Tagud now pending before the Ombudsman will be dismissed for lack of basis and evidence.

Pastores also said the charges against Tagud will in no way affect his credibility as a state witness in the graft case against the 20 PEA and six COA officials and Legaspi.

She also said the filing of direct bribery charges against Tagud was clearly a move to harass Tagud and prevent him from pursuing the PDMB scam case.

"I’ve always been ready to testify and expose this anomaly," Tagud said. "Regardless of what will happen, I will testify."

Anti-graft advocacy group Plunder Watch said it is disappointed that the Ombudsman downgraded the charges in the PDMB case, even while the group acknowledged that the Ombudsman decision was a victory.

Plunder Watch lamented that the Ombudsman "failed to use its broad and sweeping powers to look deeper into how the respondents could have colluded and conspired to benefit themselves as they pampered the erring contractor." — With Nikko Dizon