Ombudsman, NBI to start probe on World Bank road mess

MANILA, Philippines – The Office of the Ombudsman and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) would start next week their joint investigation on the private firms and individuals implicated in the allegedly rigging of bids for road projects funded by the World Bank.

Assistant Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni said representatives of the Ombudsman and the NBI are finalizing the procedures on how the probe will be carried out.

“We can begin as early as after Holy Week,” he told The STAR in an interview yesterday, noting that meetings were held to discuss the mechanics of the investigation.

Jalandoni said a composite team from the Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Office (FIO), which he heads, would be working with intelligence and anti-graft agents of the NBI.

He earlier explained that a joint probe of private contractors and individuals implicated in an alleged bid-rigging for the $150-million National Road Improvement and Management Project-Phase 1 (NRIMP-1) of the World Bank is needed because the Ombudsman does not have jurisdiction over private entities or persons.

The FIO, however, conducted a probe of government officials which resulted in the filing of graft charges against former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Florante Soriquez and 16 other officials before the Preliminary Investigation and Administrative Adjudication and Monitoring Office (PAMO), also of the Office of the Ombudsman, late last month.

Among those who will be investigated by the NBI are private contractors who submitted bids for the NRIMP-1 that were way above the approved budget contracts (ABC) for the same.

First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo was also implicated in the alleged anomaly based on testimonies presented before a Senate hearing on the issue.

Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez has already formed a three-man panel of investigators, which was given 90 days to complete the preliminary investigation on Soriquez and the other DPWH officials who are facing graft charges.

The Sandiganbayan would file charges of grave misconduct, dishonesty, conduct prejudicial to the interest of the service, and neglect of duty if probable cause is established against the DPWH officials.