DPWH executives in World Bank mess face raps - Ombudsman

MANILA, Philippines - Former secretary Florante Soriquez and 16 other officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are facing charges of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and other offenses after the Office of the Ombudsman found documentary evidence linking them to alleged anomalous biddings for World Bank-funded road projects.

Assistant Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni told The STAR the anti-graft agency and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will jointly probe alleged collusion between private contractors and government officials in the supposed anomaly.

The investigation of their Field Investigation Office (FIO) covers only the first phase of the fact-finding process since the Office of the Ombudsman does not have jurisdiction over private contractors, he added.

Jalandoni said First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo was implicated in the alleged bid-rigging in a World Bank report based on alleged interviews with unnamed witnesses.

Mr. Arroyo can only be probed based on the testimonies of private contractors in the Senate hearings since the witnesses were never named, and the report was confidential, he added.

Jalandoni said their FIO tried to make use of the copies of the testimonies sent to them by the Senate by asking the World Bank to authenticate them.

However, the World Bank refused their request, he added.

The joint probe with the NBI will have to again call on the witnesses and have them testify on Mr. Arroyo’s supposed involvement in the anomaly, as well as other government officials mentioned in the Senate hearings, he said.

Jalandoni said Soriquez, now a DPWH undersecretary, leads the list of officials who are being charged for grave misconduct, dishonesty, conduct prejudicial to the interest of the service, and neglect of duty based on provisions of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Government Officials and Employees before the Office of the Ombudsman’s Preliminary Investigation and Administrative Adjudication and Monitoring Office.

Soriquez, as acting DPWH secretary when the biddings were held, should have rejected all bids that went beyond the approved budget for the contract, he added.

The strongest evidence against the respondents are documented bidding records that show supposed irregularities or anomalies in the process, he said.

Jalandoni said the World Bank rejected all three winning bidders due to findings that the detailed analysis of the original bids themselves reveal clear patterns of collusions among the bidders, and that in all three occasions, the lowest bids are some 15 percent higher than the estimate cost, which is indicative of alleged bid-rigging.

Graft investigators found sufficient documentary evidence to show that a violation of the Procurement Law has been committed, he added.

All 17 DPWH officials are being charged for approving bids that went beyond the approved budget of the $150-million National Road Improvement and Management Project-Phase 1, Jalandoni said.

Charged with Soriquez were Undersecretary Manuel Bonoan as chairman of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) for Visayas and Mindanao projects; BAC Assistant Secretaries Bashir D. Rasuman, Salvador Pleyto, Juanito Abergas as BAC members; Mocamad M. Raki-in Sr., as Vice Chairman for the Mindanao area; and Rafel C. Yabut as Vice Chairman for Operations for Area III.

The anti-graft agency’s investigators also found sufficient grounds to charge BAC members Emerson L. Benitez, who is also a Project Manager III and head of the BAC-Technical Working Group; Baliame P. Mamainte, project director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development-Project Management Office (IBRD-PMO); Lope S. Adriano, the project director of the IBRB-PMO; lawyer Joel I Jacob, officer-in-charge (OIC) of the legal service; Camilo G. Foronda, OIC of the Comptrollership and Financial Management Services; Director Walter R. Ocampo of the Bureau of Construction; and Florencio I. Aricheta, a representative of the National Constructors Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Construction Association.

Part of the World Bank-funded project covers the rehabilitation of the Marihatag-Barobo/Tagbina-Hinatuan section of the Surigao-Davao Coastal Road Contract Package, according to Jalandoni.

A bidding was held on Nov. 20, 2002 wherein the BAC recommended the awarding of the project to China Geo Engineering Corporation which had a bid that was 15.59 percent higher than the approved budget for the contract (ABC) worth P967,012,362.15.

The second part of the NRIMP-1 covers the rehabilitation of the Kabankalan-Basay/ San Enrique-Vallehermoso Road Hinobaan-Basay/La Castellana-Canlaon Section Contract Package or CW-RU-1.6, which was later split into two projects as CW-RU-1.6A and CW-RU-1.6B.

For CW-RU-1.6A, a bidding was held on Aug. 8, 2006 wherein the BAC recommended that the project be awarded to the China Road and Bridge Corporation which had a bid that was 13.38 percent higher than the ABC of P682,396,537.65, according to graft investigators.

For CW-RU-1.6B, a bidding was also held wherein the BAC recommended that the project be awarded to China Wuyi Co. Ltd., which again had a bid that was 16.85 percent higher than the ABC worth P640,574,987.79.

Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez was not present during yesterday’s presentation of the initial findings on the World Bank case as she was allegedly out attending to other matters.