Unfulfilled Government Contract : Jude returns P1-M ‘fee’ to settle case

SAN LEONARDO, Nueva Ecija - Former presidential son Jude Estrada paid back a Nueva Ecija contractor P1 million representing the "commission" he got for a promised government contract that never materialized.

With his money back, Roberto Martin, former president of the contractors’ association in the province, dropped the case he filed against Jude with the National Bureau of Investigation’s Anti-Fraud Division, for reneging on his promise to get Martin a government contract last year.

Martin complained that Jude made him wait for months after giving him the P1-million "commission," until political events forced President Joseph Estrada out of Malacañang.

Jude handed Martin the money in the office of NBI director Reynaldo Wycoco last Tuesday.

Martin said Wycoco’s younger brother, Chief Inspector Edgar Wycoco, was one of those who brokered the settlement. The Wycocos hail from this province.

Martin owns Mareco, which operates a sprawling cold storage plant in Barangay Castellano here. He is also involved in other businesses, including the manufacture of billiard tables.

His son Marvin is running for councilor here under the Bagong Lakas ng Nueva Ecija (Balane) slate of Hortencia Nagaño, wife of three-termer Mayor Sonny Nagaño, a staunch supporter of the ousted president.