GMA: Fired PEA execs barred from public office

President Arroyo has affirmed the guilty verdict handed down by the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) on the seven board members of the Public Estates Authority (PEA) accused of overpricing the construction of the President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard.

The seven PEA officials were board chairman Ernest Villareal, general manager and ex officio board member Benjamin Cariño, and board members Rodolfo Tuazon, Angelito Villanueva, Martin Sanciego Jr., Joemarie Gerochi, and Sulficio Tagud Jr., the whistle- blower in the P600-million overpricing scam.

Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo, by authority of the President, signed Administrative Order No. 53 that affirmed the verdict and recommended the penalty, which is dismissal from government service and perpetual disqualification from public office.

Romulo also turned over the PAGC findings to PEA for it to carry out the recommendations regarding the culpability of other PEA officials who are non-presidential appointees, and to the Office of the Ombudsman for possible criminal prosecution.

The PEA officials include: assistant general manager Jaime Millan, deputy general managers Manuel Berina Jr. and Theron Lacson, deputy manager Bernardo Viray, and senior corporate attorney Ernesto Enriquez.

The PAGC also did not spare the PEA appointees of deposed President Joseph Estrada whom it also recommended for criminal investigation on graft charges by the Ombudsman.

These were former PEA board chairman Frisco San Juan, general manager and ex officio board member Carlos Doble and board members Carmelita de Leon-Chan, Daniel Dayan, Salvador Malbarosa, Leo Padilla, and Elpidio Damaso.

The PAGC findings said that the old PEA board awarded the contract to JD Legaspi Construction and entered into the construction contract based on "unjustified simplified bidding process" which is a violation of our laws.

In a related development, Tagud, now a member of PlunderWatch, is reportedly set to file an amended plunder complaint against a powerful law firm close to President Arroyo, past and present PEA officials, and the Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS).

In a statement, Tagud said that among those that he would charge with plunder are Carpio Law office partner Avelino Cruz, former PEA chairman San Juan, current GSIS president Winston Garcia and 16 others.

"We are getting a step closer to the truth. By including these influential persons in the plunder charge, we aim to shed light on how this scandal came to be," Fr. Joe Dizon, PlunderWatch convenor, said.

"The P1 billion loan granted by GSIS to PEA would not have been rushed without the knowledge or approval of these persons and perhaps of those in higher posts of government," he added.

Tagud’s co-complainants in the plunder case are the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), Council on Philippine Affairs (COPA), and other organizations that participated in the EDSA people power 2 uprising.