New witness vs Alvarez?

A new witness in the plunder case against Department of Transportation and Communication Secretary Pantaleon Alvarez has presented evidence contradicting the official’s earlier denial that he was not involved in the controversial Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal III project.

In a statement, engineer Reynaldo Libutan said the evidence consists of handwritten suggestion made by Alvarez on his stationery as Davao del Norte congressman on cost estimates for certain project components of the Terminal III project, and corporate records certifying his presence in operations meetings of Wintrack Builders Inc., a major Terminal III subcontractor.

The documents are part of the annexes of a sworn statement executed by Libutan attesting that Alvarez "was calling the shots" for Wintrack Builders, Inc. in board meetings and business deals related to the construction of Terminal III of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the statement said.

It added that Alvarez faces a plunder suit for his alleged ownership of Wintrack, a major sub-contractor of Philippine Air Terminals Co., Inc. (PIATCO), holder of the controversial concession agreement for the construction and operation of Terminal III. Alvarez has denied involvement with Wintrack.

Libutan was senior project engineer of NOMERCO, the forerunner of Wintrack. He joined Wintrack when NOMERCO was dissolved in favor of the new company.

In his sworn statement, Libutan said that while the name of the DOTC Secretary does not appear in Wintrack‘s incorporation papers, "actually, it was (then) Congressman Alvarez who was calling the shots for Wintrack Builders Inc."