Sandiganbayan junks Disini plea against testifying on BNPP case

The Sandiganbayan has denied the petition of Jesus Disini to quash the motion of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) compelling him to testify against his own cousin, Herminio Disini, in the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) case.

The government is seeking P51 billion in damages.

Government lawyers alleged in their complaint that Herminio Disini received $18 million in illegal commissions for allegedly cornering the BNPP contract for American firms Westinghouse Electric Corp. and Burns and Roe.

They added that Disini used his close relationship with the late former President Ferdinand Marcos in cornering the deal for the 620-megawatt nuclear power plant in Morong, Bataan.

The BNPP project is estimated at $2.3 billion, reports showed.

In its resolution promulgated Aug. 16, the Sandiganbayan denied the motion filed by Jesus Disini seeking to quash the government’s petition to place him in the witness stand to testify.

Jesus Disini had claimed he made full compliance of the terms and conditions of the immunity agreement he signed with the PCGG on Feb. 16, 1989 when he submitted sworn affidavits detailing what he knew of the transactions of his cousin relative to the anomalous BNPP deal.

Jesus Disini was the chief legal officer of the Herdis Group, court records said. Herdis Group was the company allegedly used by Herminio Disini to funnel his commissions and other financial favors from government financial institutions.

In denying Jesus Disini’s motions to quash, the Sandiganbayan noted that the immunity agreement was signed only in 1989.

The anti-graft court said the pending government lawsuit was filed in court two years earlier.

“The immunity agreement was consummated only in February 1989, or long after the instant case was filed in 1987. Without any provision therein respecting retroactive application or making an exception to the instant case, the agreement cannot be the basis for immunity for cases that had already been filed before this court,” the Sandiganbayan said.

The Sandiganbayan ruling upheld the authority of the PCGG to revoke the provision of the immunity agreement cited by Jesus Disini in declining to testify for the government.

It overruled Jesus Disini’s argument that the government is already stopped from repudiating the immunity agreement after it had availed of his testimony pursuant to the compromise deal, the anti-graft court said.

“In view of the revocation and nullification by the PCGG of Section 3 of the immunity agreement, which is a power of the PCGG that Atty. (Jesus) Disini himself recognizes, there is no point of quashing the subpoena issued by the Court for him to testify in the case since he can already be compelled to testify sans any restrictions or qualifications,” the Sandigan-bayan said.

PCGG lawyers stressed Jesus Disini’s affidavits would not have much bearing in the government’s lawsuit against Herminio Disini unless he takes the witness stand to affirm his declarations and allow himself to be cross-examined by the defendants’ lawyers.

In 1974, Disini was asked by representatives of Westinghouse and Burns and Roe to act as their go-between with Marcos.

On representation of Disini, Marcos awarded the nuclear power plant contract to Westinghouse and Burns and Roe without the benefit of public bidding.

Based on findings of the PCGG and the Ombudsman, Westinghouse and Burns and Roe subcontracted portions of the project to two firms reportedly owned by Disini and Marcos — Power Contractor Inc. and Engineering and Construction Company of Asia.