Miriam now wants Ramos probed for IPP deals

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago asked the Senate yesterday to investigate the other "irregular" contracts that Fidel Ramos entered into when he was president, including those with power producers.

She made the appeal in a privilege speech two weeks after denouncing the former president for the supposedly anomalous multibillion-peso contract that Ramos awarded to R-II Builders for the Smokey Mountain development and reclamation project in Tondo, Manila.

The speech, entitled "Unmasking a Character Assassin," focused on the former president, who is in China on a speaking engagement.

"It seems that the Ramos administration consisted of a series of scams — Centennial City, Smokey Mountain and the energy contracts. I am also going to seek a probe of his irregular contracts with independent power producers (IPPs)," she said.

She said such contracts are the principal culprit behind the high electricity rates that the public is paying today.

Her privilege speech was prompted by the former president’s accusation last Saturday that Santiago participated in the approval of land reclamation projects when she was a member of the Public Estates Authority (PEA) board during the Aquino administration.

The pro-administration senator said the accusation was part of Ramos’ efforts to "assassinate my character."

"Ramos has tried to make a career of character assassination against me, simply because I have not, and will never, concede his fraudulent, alleged victory over me in the 1992 elections. He is a man haunted by his own conscience," she said.

She said the former leader "showed malice" last Saturday when he aired the accusation against her in a news conference at the airport before leaving for China.

"He knew that my offices would be closed, and I would not be able to respond promptly. He took advantage of the fact that as a rule, on Saturdays, there is not much news, and he had an unfair chance to get this press release picked up by the media. This is the standard operating procedure of the so-called media operators, or in other words, character assassins," she said.

She repeated the charges she had leveled against Ramos in connection with the 1992 presidential election.

Santiago claimed that the former defense secretary "cheated" her of victory "by means of the notorious Sulo Hotel Operations Group" that worked on reducing her votes.

"After I filed my election protest against him in 1992, Ramos, through various emissaries, approached some people close to me, and offered me the sum of P200 million allegedly to refund my campaign expenses but actually to drop my protest. Some of my friends to whom this offer was made are still around, and can testify that I refused to be bought," she said.

She also linked Ramos to a car accident that nearly killed her. She belittled the economic growth that the nation experienced during the Ramos administration. "Ramos claimed personal credit for our national economic growth, when in truth it was not due to any effort on his part but was due to a global economic upswing," she said.

As for her alleged participation in PEA’s approval of land reclamation projects, Santiago said, "Why try to incriminate me, when I was a mere member of the board? I was not the chair of the board nor the general manager. At that time, I was a very busy immigration commissioner. Because the PEA charter provides that PEA can sell public lands, the charter enjoyed a presumption of constitutionality, and all prior PEA contracts enjoyed a presumption of regularity."

"Comparing the two kinds of contracts (Smokey Mountain and other PEA deals) is like comparing the character of a vestal virgin and that of a serial rapist," she said.

‘3 presidents liable’

Meanwhile, former solicitor general Frank Chavez said yesterday three presidents of the country could be held liable for the multibillion-peso Smokey Mountain land reclamation scam under the "principle of command responsibility."

Chavez told the Kapihan sa Maynila forum at the Manila Hotel that the land reclamation project was started by the administration of Ramos and continued by the administrations President Joseph Estrada and President Arroyo.

While he has not seen any documents bearing the signatures of Ramos, Estrada and Arroyo linking them to alleged irregularities in the Smokey Mountain development and reclamation project, Chavez explained that they could still be held liable under the principle of command responsibility and gross violation of the Constitution, noting that the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA) and Social Security System (SSS) and other government financial institutions would not have invested in the project without the President’s prodding or insistence.

"This was started by Ramos, continued by Estrada and Arroyo. The government institutions would not have invested without the prodding or insistence of the presidents," Chavez said.

He stressed that an amount was still released and an escrow account was opened to pay R-II Builders despite the termination of the contract last year under the Aquino administration.

He also urged Migrante International to consider the filing of charges of plunder, estafa and violation of the Graft and Corruption Practices Act against OWWA officials for their misuse of hundreds of millions in funds that the agency holds in trust for overseas Filipino workers.

The OWWA investment in the project, now valued at more than P1 billion, was supposed to have matured on Oct. 12, 1999 but has remained unpaid up to now.

The OWWA and other government financial institutions that invested in the Smokey Mountain reportedly violated a Department of Finance memorandum limiting their investments to "qualified government securities" such as treasury bills and notes. — With Pia Lee-Brago