IT firm says DFA petition over P1.1-B passport project ‘misleading’

An information technology company has raised serious concern over an alleged misleading petition filed recently by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) before the Supreme Court (SC) to stop them from undertaking a P1.1-billion machine readable passport visa project they won several years ago.

Aderito Yuhuico Jr., chairman of BCA International, asked why the DFA petition filed last March 7 was signed by one Edsel Custodio in a temporary capacity as DFA "acting secretary."

Yuhuico charged that the misrepresentation in the DFA petition was an apparent move to deceive the public.

"Who is Edsel Custodio? I ask this question with due respect to his person, as a great majority of the officers and employees of the DFA are men of probity and integrity. However, the Filipino people are entitled to know why for this specific purpose and this purpose alone, a new secretary has been conveniently paraded as Acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs," Yuhuico asked.

The DFA, for its part, dismissed the accusations of irregularity in the said petition.

Claro Cristobal, spokesperson of the DFA, said that Custodio, an undersecretary who handles the International Economic Relations portfolio, was in the position to sign the petition as he was then the designated acting secretary and he signed the petition in an official capacity.

"Secretary Romulo would have signed it if he was here," Cristobal told The STAR.

Lawyers of BCA International, however, pointed out that pertinent laws render the appointment of Custodio as highly irregular, if not illegal, based on provisions of Executive Order 292, which stipulate that the power to issue temporary designations rests only on the President, who may temporarily designate an officer already in the government service or any other competent person to perform the functions of an office in the executive branch when the officer is unable to perform his duties by reason of illness, absence or any other cause or if there exists a vacancy.

Roberto Dio, BCA International lead counsel, said that without the presentation of proof that the appointment of Custodio was signed and issued by the President, the petition filed by the DFA before the SC is void.

The DFA petition in question asked for an injunction against BCA International from pursuing further the Machine Readable Passports Visa (MRPV) BOT Project since it has allegedly no financial capacity to complete the project’s implementation.

"This is a brazen lie," said Yuhuico.

Documents on file with the DFA show that on June 28, 2004, BCA International posted a performance bond of P81.2 million for Phases 2, 3 and 4 of the MRPV Project.