Arrest warrant for Marcos crony out

The Sandiganbayan finally issued a warrant of arrest yesterday for a crony of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos for allegedly taking a huge bribe for securing a government contract in the 1970s to build the long-mothballed Bataan nuclear power plant.

A businessman and former golfing buddy of Marcos, Herminio Disini was indicted by state prosecutors for allegedly using his influence to bag the nuclear plant project for two American companies, Burns and Roe and Westinghouse Electrical Corp., in exchange for $18 million in bribes. Marcos allegedly also received kickbacks.

Disini’s whereabouts are unknown, however. His last known address was North Greenhills, San Juan. The anti-graft court’s first division set the bail at P54,000.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor said it has overwhelming evidence proving that Disini "requested and received" $1 million from Burns and Roe and $17 million from Westinghouse to win them the project.

That effectively excluded other qualified bidders for the contract. "What’s worse was that they were able to subcontract these to two firms owned by Disini and Marcos," said chief special prosecutor Dennis Villa Ignacio.

Disini was investigated by the government shortly after the 1986 downfall of the brutal Marcos dictatorship.

Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo’s predecessor, Aniano Desierto, thrice dismissed the graft charges against Disini for lack of basis but the Presidential Commission on Good Government got a favorable ruling in February 2003 when it elevated the case to the Supreme Court.

"To our mind, the whole gamut of evidence presented is more than sufficient to support a criminal complaint for the crimes of corruption of a public official in relation to bribery and violation of the anti-graft law," the Supreme Court said.

"The evidence on record has engendered the reasonable belief that Disini had offered, promised or actually given to a public officer (Marcos) gifts or presents that made the latter liable for bribery."

Disini clearly showed that he had "capitalized, exploited and taken advantage of his close personal relations with the former president, who was to decide ultimately which corporation would undertake the (Bataan nuclear power plant) project," the court said.

Disini is among the dozens of Marcos cronies who allegedly benefited during the dictatorship.

The nuclear plant in Morong, Bataan, was mothballed by the Corazon Aquino administration upon learning that it was built near an earthquake fault line and its design was substandard.

The government is still paying hundreds of thousands of dollars each day to pay for loans used to finance the plant’s construction.