PEA whistle-blower denies P14-M extortion

The Public Estates Authority (PEA) official who blew the whistle on alleged anomalies in the construction of the Diosdado Macapagal Avenue in Pasay City filed yesterday a leave of absence pending an investigation by government lawyers.

PEA director Sulficio Tagud Jr. personally delivered his leave notice to Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo even as he denied counter-charges that he extorted P14 million from the contractor of Macapagal Avenue to corner the contract for another project in the reclamation area.

Pastor "Boy" Saycon, secretary general of the civil society group Council on Philippine Affairs (COPA), also denied involvement in the scandal and claimed the issue of the P14-million payoff was brought up to divert the public’s attention from the irregularities in the project.

But PEA chairman Ernest Villareal challenged Tagud, Saycon and "key people" in the controversy to take a lie-detector test to determine the truth in the controversy.

Malacañang, for its part, said it would await the results of the evaluation by President Arroyo’s chief legal counsel Avelino Cruz before commenting on the matter.

But Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye did not discount the possibility that the issue could be elevated to the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) for further investigation.

"Right now, the instruction of Malacañang is for (the PEA and the Government Service Insurance System) to submit immediately to the office of Cruz their respective explanations on the road project," Bunye told Palace reporters.

He reiterated, however, the Palace view that political enemies of the administration may be using the controversy to embarrass the President.

"We know that certain quarters are really engaging in several destabilization and even disinformation campaigns but the President has not made any specific comment as far as this recent exposé is concerned," Bunye said.

Tagud, for his part, denied that he was involved in any destabilization plot and claimed he only exposed the alleged anomaly because he wanted "to restore honesty and decency at the PEA."

"I’m doing this to restore the honesty and decency at PEA," Tagud told Palace reporters, stressing that he never tried to drag the name of the President or First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo into the controversy.

"It is unfortunate, Madam President, that the anomaly that I reported to you has degenerated into name-calling and insinuations of political color that tend to drag unrelated personalities in the controversy," Tagud said.

No politics - Saycon

Saycon echoed Tagud’s sentiment and said there was no politics in the recent expose but admitted that he introduced Tagud to several journalists to publicize the alleged road project anomaly.

He said that suggestion that the revelations were part of a destabilization plot was only a ploy to divert public attention from the supposed anomaly.

"By showing political color, they want to get the sympathy of the President. Spare the President. Spare the First Gentleman. Let the wheels of justice fall on the management of PEA," Saycon said.

In a letter to unidentified COPA members, Saycon said "the vicious and orchestrated efforts to muddle the issue and divert the public’s attention away from the scam and instead towards personalities betray the hands of operators who are familiar to us."

While Saycon did not identify the "operators," he said "we have experienced this a number of times beginning from the Estrada administration."

He also lashed at journalists who "report nothing about it but speculations and unfounded accusations on the role of personalities, including myself, who are trying to report serious wrongdoing by public officials."

"By monitoring media outlets and personalities who are not concerned about detailing to the public the process and machinations of a plunder, we can easily ascertain who are simply instruments of a cover-up scam," he said.

The polygraph test challenge

Also yesterday, PEA chairman Villareal challenged Saycon and other "key people" to take a polygraph, or lie-detector, test to ascertain who was telling the truth.

"It’s the only way to establish who is telling the truth. I know that a lie-detector test is not acceptable in court, but if they have nothing to hide then they should accept the offer," Villareal told The STAR.

He expressed belief that the Macapagal Avenue was not really the issue but the plot to embarrass the President.

"I don’t think the road is the issue but the scheme to implicate the President and the administration," he said, noting that the alleged overpricing could be explained as PEA officials did in a press briefing yesterday.

Villareal said the PEA board was set to meet today to finalize its report to the President and will include "intelligence reports" detailing the alleged scheme of a retired military official and a lawmaker to publicize the scandal to embarrass the President.

AFP dismisses claimed coup plot

Meanwhile, Armed Forces chief Gen. Benjamin Defensor laughed off yesterday reports of moves to destabilize the government by the military rank and file, saying the AFP is untied and solidly behind the Constitution and the Arroyo administration.

Defensor was reacting to an unsigned letter sent to Malacañang purportedly from "Kasundalohan," a group claiming to represent the enlisted personnel corps that threatened to stage a coup if their complaints are not addressed.

At the same time, sergeant majors of the military’s different commands issued a manifesto reiterating their support for Mrs. Arroyo and lashed at those behind Kasundalohan’s letter.

"(But) the letter is not signed. We do not entertain unsigned letters. (And) to ensure and to prevent anybody from thinking there is such a thing in the AFP, (the sergeant majors) came out with a joint statement disowning this and stating in effect that this is a fictitious letter," Defensor said.

Defensor said the AFP is conducting reforms to professionalize its officer corps and rank and file while weeding out misfits.

The AFP chief also stressed the military is not fragmented and is focused on fighting threats to national security.

"I don’t think the AFP is fragmented. We have a common enemy that we are addressing right now. We cannot afford to be fragmented at this time and besides, there is no reason to be," Defensor said.

"Obviously, that letter was written by somebody who wants to destabilize the AFP. We do not even know if that is really a group. (For all we know), it may only be one person," he added.

For his part, AFP sergeant major Master Chief Petty Officer Benjamin Rosario assured that the military’s enlisted personnel are fully behind Mrs. Arroyo as the commander-in-chief.

"We checked with our sergeant majors in Mindanao, Visayas and all over Luzon and we talked to them and they told us that none of their men are into this," Rosario said.

He said the issues raised by the unsigned letter were misleading and that the concerns of the enlisted personnel are now being addressed by the AFP leadership.

He also expressed gratitude to the President for the speedy enactment of Republic Act 9166 which increased the basic pay of military personnel.

"We believe this is politically motivated and there are groups who want to use us," the AFP sergeant major added. - With reports from Marvin Sy, Paolo Romero