15 PEA officials, contractor charged with plunder

After two weeks of waiting, Sulficio Tagud Jr., the Public Estates Authority director who exposed the alleged anomaly in the construction of a segment of the President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard (PDMB), and 15 non-government organizations (NGOs) filed plunder charges yesterday against 16 officials of PEA and the Commission on Audit (COA) and a private contractor at the Office of the Ombudsman.

Named respondents in the non-bailable offense of economic plunder for violation of Republic Act 7080 were Jesusito D. Legaspi, president of the J.D. Legaspi Construction (JDLC); PEA chairman Ernest Villareal, general manager Benjamin Cariño and directors Josemari Gerochi, Martin Sanciego, Angelito Villanueva and Rodolfo Tuazon.

The other respondents were PEA assistant general manager Jaime Millan, deputy general manager for operations and technical services Manuel Beriña Jr., deputy general manager for finance, legal and administration Theron Lacson, technical services department manager Bernardo Viray, legal department manager Cristina Mortel, project management officer Pocholo Zorilla, COA auditors Gloria Cornejo, Arturo Layug, Benilda Mendoza, Manuela de la Paz and several John and Jane Does.

At the Senate, the Blue Ribbon committee headed by Sen. Joker Arroyo and the committee on public works headed by Sen. Ramon Revilla will start this morning a hearing on the alleged overpricing of the PDMB and the terms and conditions of the funding extended by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

Arroyo, however, said that Tagud had not yet submitted any affidavit to the Blue Ribbon Committee as of yesterday afternoon, unlike Villareal and other resource persons. The Blue Ribbon, lead panel in the joint investigation, has made it a policy to require documentation on all issues raised before the panel.

PEA has already submitted to the Blue Ribbon Committee inch-thick documents, including construction and bid plans.

Meanwhile, Presidential Anti-Graft Commission chairman Dario Rama told The STAR that he was "confused" by "too much distinction" between the words expensive and overpriced. "I’m a simple-minded man. I want things (explained) simply," he said during a surprise visit to the PEA office at Paseo de Roxas Avenue in Makati City.

PEA officials had defended the PDMB project as "expensive but not overpriced."

He later told reporters that his office may talk to Malacañang officials "as the need arises" in the course of his investigation into the alleged scam.

Asked to comment on the plunder complaint, PEA deputy general manager for finance, legal and administration Lacson told The STAR the NGO supporters of Tagud should "be fair" to them and that "sobriety must prevail here."

Lacson admitted that he was "scared" of the plunder charge because it is a non-bailable offense but added that he was "relieved" that Tagud finally filed the complaint. The filing of the complaint had been postponed twice.

Tagud said the filing of plunder against Legaspi and the officials of PEA and COA was a fight against corruption involving government officials in the country.

"Today, I together with 15 civil society groups, take a stand against corruption, a social cancer that has been destroying the moral foundations of our country," Tagud said.

In a 30-page complaint, Tagud said the bidding conducted on the Central Boulevard Project (CBP), which was later renamed after the late father of President Arroyo, was highly irregular.

Tagud said Legaspi and the 16 PEA and COA officials had conspired with one another which enabled Legaspi to amass a profit amounting to P632 million at the expense of the government.

"All respondents have acted in cooperation, or in conspiracy with one another as shown by the fact that they have prepared, submitted, recommended, and/or approved the documents relative to the various costs and price adjustments, which made possible the overpricing or overruns," Tagud said.

Tagud even likened himself to Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius who valiantly fought barbarian armies far from the cities of Rome.

Quoting Marcus Aurelius, Tagud said, "What you do in this life will echo in eternity."

Plunderwatch spokesman Fr. Jose Dizon said the plunder complaint against Legaspi and the PEA and COA officials was a continuation of the anti-corruption movement that had booted then President Joseph Estrada out of power.

After receiving Tagud’s complaint, acting Ombudsman Margarito Gervacio said the complaint will be screened by the screening and evaluation committee to determine its sufficiency and substance.