‘Proposed Bicutan jail another scam’

The official of the Public Estates Authority (PEA) who exposed the alleged overpricing of a segment of the President Diosdado Macapagal Blvd. (PDMB) said yesterday another project — the urban renewal project in Bicutan, Taguig that would replace the Old Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa City — could also be a scandalous deal.

Sulficio Tagud Jr. is set to file tomorrow plunder charges before the Office of the Ombudsman against 15 PEA officials and the private contractor who built the controversial boulevard.

Tagud also questioned yesterday the single ownership of the J.D. Legaspi Construction (JDLC) and its capability to construct such a huge government project given what appeared to be its limited resources.

For his part, PEA chairman Ernest Villareal said, "It is good that he has formalized his charges in court instead of airing his allegations in the media. Now the truth will out. We have nothing to hide."

In a statement, Villareal said he is ready to take legal action against detractors who accused him of improprieties without "solid evidence."

"Ever since the controversy started," Villareal said, "I have been accused of a lot of things. But the accusations were never supported by documentary or other forms of evidence."

"As I have always declared, I am innocent of any wrongdoing. I am ready to face any probe anytime, even as early as starting tomorrow, and I will no longer take any trial by publicity," he said in his statement.

Speaking at a weekly forum in a Quezon City hotel, Tagud said the PEA borrowed a total of P1 billion from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) sometime in 1999 to fund the urban renewal project in Bicutan.

Tagud said that the funding of P1 billion for the urban renewal project include the transfer of the inmates from the Old Bilibid Prisons to the jail being put up in Bicutan and the cost of clearing up of squatters in the Bicutan area.

He said that as early as 2000, the P1 billion was depleted already.

"The project was stopped because the PEA cannot pay the LBP," he said.

Tagud said that the Home Guarantee Corp., which guaranteed the loan of PEA, continued payment of the P1-billion loan of the PEA.

He said that the Home Guarantee Corp. was able to put up certain structures in Bicutan that should be appraised by the government to determine if it indeed incurred a total of P1 billion.

"This should be appraised by the government to determine if the P1 billion was indeed used in the project or it is just another case of overpricing. Supposedly, the inmates from the Old Bilibid Prisons are transferred to Bicutan and the squatters were cleared and already been relocated. But even if you do this, it will not reach to a P1-billion fund," Tagud said.

Tagud admitted, however, that he still has to dig deeper yet into the details of the Bicutan urban renewal project.

Tagud said that there were many questionable projects that the PEA has undertaken, and there were indications that the projects were mostly overpriced.

"But right now, I’m not competent to reveal anything about them because of lack of documents. I would refuse speculations," he said.

Plunder charges

Tagud said he would charge with plunder Villareal, PEA general manager Benjamin Cariño, PEA deputy general manager Theron Lacson, Engineers Jaime Milan and Bernie Viray, nine other PEA officials and Jesusito Legaspi, sole owner of the JDLC.

On Friday, Legaspi filed charges of graft and grave threats against Tagud. Yesterday, Tagud denied that PEA assistant general manager Pelagio Lalap was his "bagman."

"How could (Lalap) be my bagman when I only met and knew him immediately after I became director of the PEA?" Tagud asked.

He said he confronted Lalap on Aug. 15 when he learned from PEA director Rodolfo Tuazon that he accused him of receiving money from Legaspi through Lalap.

"Last August 15, I confronted Lalap with Cariño and the corporate secretary of the PEA.. and he (Lalap) admitted that I did not order him to extort money from Legaspi. Lalap even issued an affidavit on Aug. 15 denying that I ordered him to extort money from Legaspi. His affidavit was notarized on Aug. 20," he said.

Tagud said that he would be filing a damage suit against Legaspi for maligning his person.

He said that during the Aug. 15 meeting of the PEA board, he was assured by Tuazon that he would try to get an affidavit from Legaspi stating that it was Lalap and not him who took money.

In his complaint filed at the Office of the Ombudsman on Friday, Legaspi said that Lalap and Tagud connived with each other in extorting a total of P18,285,190.65 from him in December 2001 and March 2002 in exchange for the approval of his "legally" proposed contract price adjustment involving the construction of the Central Boulevard project in the Manila Bay reclamation area.

While saying that the JDLC, which holds offices at the 223rd Paraiso St., Dasmariñas, Makati City, was a good contract-taker, Tagud noted Legaspi "has limited human resources with only four men working for him. The JDLC has a small capital and it has no equipment."

"He is good in taking contracts from the government, but his actual job is only sub-contract and he used to tie up with the DM Consunji," Tagud said.

He said that he was forced to publicly air and exposed the anomaly in the PDMB construction because he said he fears that the incoming batch of PEA board members

JDLC not a even a corporation — Tagud

Tagud questioned yesterday how JDLC managed to win and build a multimillion-peso government project when it was not even a corporation but merely a single-proprietorship type of company.

He also asked why the PDMB project, formerly known as the Central Boulevard project, underwent a "modified, simplified bidding" instead of a regular bidding during the time of ousted President Joseph Estrada.

"What is a single-proprietorship company doing in a government project like this? I think the PAGC (Presidential Anti-Graft Commission) and the Department of Public Works and Highways should also look into this," Tagud said.

He claimed that JDLC has an "AAA certification, small capital, does not have the equipment, and has only four people employed." He said the JDLC office address was "a residential place."

However, in a telephone interview, Legaspi said there were no restrictions in the bidding. "What is important is that I have a AAA license and a large B classification. I hired engineers and sub-contracted some of the work," he said.

Napoleon Poblador, Legaspi’s lawyer, said his client had the lowest bid in 1999. "The fact that his is a single-proprietorship kind of company doesn’t disqualify him," he said.

Poblador said "single-proprietorship is even advantageous to the government in that the government could go after the real owner of the company. If for example, JDLC fails to fulfill his obligations as stated in the contract, the government could recover (the losses) by going after all of Mr. Legaspi’s assets."

Poblador said that stockholders of a corporation "can disappear" and that they have "no personal liabilities."

Poblador said it was the DPWH that gave JDLC the "AAA" rating. JDLC also has an inter-agency classification (IAC) of Large "B" from the DPWH.

"(JDLC) was pre-qualified to do the project. He has the technical (capability) and right size of manpower. It doesn’t matter whether the company is a corporation, partnership, or a sole-proprietorship," Poblador said.

Legaspi, 39, is an engineer and the sole owner of JDLC. A graduate of the Mapua Institute of Technology, he began his construction business in 1987.

Asked about his client’s apparent success, Poblador told The STAR: "There are people who are right for a particular business and (they) focused (themselves) on (it)."

"I just want to emphasize that my client even finished at least seven months in advance. The target finish date was February 2003," Poblador said.