Datumanong told to determine liability of other PEA executives

President Arroyo ordered yesterday Public Works Secretary Simeon Datumanong, newly designated officer-in-charge (OIC) of the controversial Public Estates Authority (PEA), to determine if other management officers should go on leave pending investigation on the alleged overpricing of a segment of a highway named after her father.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said Datumanong "has taken over and brought in his staff to make sure that they safeguard the documents which are very vital in the investigation of the PEA scam" that had the President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard (PDMB) project reportedly overpriced by as much as P600 million.

After a briefing by the PEA technical management group on the PDMB, Datumanong told reporters the issue of questionable pricing remains and that this would have to be settled by the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC).

He said as far as contract procedures were concerned, the PEA officials appeared not to have committed any wrongdoing. "They were apparently right by following Presidential Decree (PD) 1594 and the procedures on bidding as well as the movement of papers," he said.

Pelagio Lalap, PEA assistant general manager for finance, has filed separate charges of grave coercion, grave threat, and unjust vexation against PEA chairman Ernest Villareal and general manager Benjamin Cariño and director Rodolfo Tuazon on Thursday afternoon before the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) prosecutor’s office.

Meanwhile, Sen. Teresa Aquino-Oreta urged the PAGC to investigate possible violations of procurement laws committed by parties involved in the overpricing of a 2.3-kilometer segment of the 5.1-kilometer PDMB.

In a statement, Oreta said the PAGC "should determine if the Arroyo administration had violated the implementing rules and regulations (of PD 1594), which calls for a supplemental agreement and a possible re-bidding in transactions involving infrastructure projects where the aggregate amount exceeds 25 percent of the escalated original contract price."

Oreta said the PAGC should find out if the increase in project cost was done in accordance with the law.

The seven-member PEA board was ordered by the President to temporarily vacate their posts on Wednesday following a very public exchange of accusations among them. One of the directors, Jose Marie Gerochi, resigned on Sept. 20.

Datumanong was only an "administrator" to the PEA and not an "investigator" of the PDMB alleged scandal, Bunye said.

"These investigations ... will not preclude any other investigations to be conducted by the Senate or the House of Representatives," he said.

The PAGC would determine whether there is probable cause for graft charges to be filed at the Office of the Ombudsman against the PEA members, Bunye said.

‘New beginning’ for Datumanong

"I’ve only seen the curtain so far and not what’s behind it. I have to take a good look first before I can make an appropriate recommendation," Datumanong told The STAR.

Tagud had said that it was not enough that the PEA board has gone on leave. He said management personnel privy to the JDLC contract should also go on leave because they "misled" the board into approving the contract.

Tagud has also expressed fears that the JDLC documents would be tampered with or altered.

In Office Order No. 091, Series of 2002, issued yesterday, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR, Datumanong said "all concerned officers and employees are directed to secure all documents under their responsibility and accountability especially those concerning the issues raised on PDMB," earlier known as Central Blvd. Project.

Securing the documents was intended to ensure that a speedy and unhampered investigation of the project would not be delayed or obstructed by lack or insufficiency of documents.

"Any release of documents shall be covered by an appropriate request and cleared with this Office except for those covered by subpoena duces tecum," Datumanong said in his order.

Lawyers from the Fact Finding Intelligence Bureau (FFIB) of the Office of the Ombudsman have requested the PEA engineering department to submit pertinent documents to them.

Deputy General Manager for Operations Manuel Beriña Jr. showed the same detailed explanation to Datumanong that he presented to the media earlier this week.

Again, Beriña said after his presentation that the PDMB may be "expensive but it is not overpriced."

Public Works Undersecretary Teodoro Encarnacion said the department normally spends P12 million to P15 million per linear kilometer, or P12,000 to P15,000 per linear meter, for a two-lane concrete inland road. "But this is for a fully settled place where there is no subgrade works needed anymore," Encarnacion said.

For JDLC’s work, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) official said he would understand if it were more expensive because of the two-meter subgrade work required. Subgrade works are done in reclaimed areas.

JDLC’s work amounted to P83,430 per linear meter, excluding the subgrade preparations. PEA engineers said they also base their computations on the 2.2-kilometer of the PDMB, and not 2.3-kilometers as reported by the media.

Moreover, PDMB used a rubberized asphalt while DPWH uses conventional or standard asphalt, the engineers said.

Beriña said it was very dangerous to compare the DPWH’s figures with those of PEA and JDLC’s basically because of the subgrade work.

"What I have to do now is to extrapolate the consolidated work of SM and R1-Consortium so that we could compare their work with JDLC and that of DPWH," Beriña said.

Theron Lacson, deputy general manager for finance, explained to Datumanong that not all the P1-billion loan from Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) was for JDLC’s work. The loan was also to cover additional and secondary roads in the Bay City project, about 1, 500 hectares of reclaimed land in Manila Bay in Pasay City, which would not be built by JDLC.

Of the P1 billion, only an estimated P600 million has been paid to JDLC while the remaining P400 million has yet to be released by the GSIS, Lacson said.

PEA has also loaned P300 million from Landbank to cover Phase 1 of JDLC’s work.

The PDMB portion of JDLC was divided into two phases, PEA officials explained, because of the lack of available funds. PEA has paid JDLC some P800 million and the contractor still has not been paid some P21 million for his work.