Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who heads the committee on labor and employment, said yesterday the probe will be undertaken as a result of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s call to expand the scope of the inquiry on the alleged misuse of OFW funds being handled by the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA).
The use of the fund for the P500-million Smokey Mountain Development and Reclamation Project during Ramos’ term raised several questions during last Monday’s OWWA inquiry because it was a project undertaken by a private entity and it does not benefit OFWs.
During a media forum in Quezon City, Estrada said the ongoing Senate probe on the alleged transfer of P530 million of OWWA funds to the government-owned Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) has encountered some legal problems because of the refusal of Malacañang to have its officials appear before the hearings.
"Malacañang wants advance questions. The Senate legal office is now studying our options," Estrada said.
The transfer of funds was reportedly done just before the national elections in May 2004, prompting the opposition to suspect that it was used for the campaign of President Arroyo which the Palace denies.
The accounting of the OWWA funds is the primary issue in the recently launched Senate inquiry following reports that the money has been dissipated.
These allegations came about during the evacuation of Filipinos in Lebanon, which was criticized because of its slow pace and complaints from Ambassador Al Francis Bichara that no funds were being forwarded to the Philippine embassy in Lebanon.
But the Commission on Audit has certified that P7.1 billion of the OWWA funds are still intact, most of it held in two government banks.
Estrada said his committee would invite Romero first to appear before its next hearing, but did not say when.
The Smokey Mountain project in 1995 was a joint venture between the National Housing Authority as the landowner and the Romero’s construction firm R-II Builders as the developer.
It was one of the flagship projects of the government and carried three components — the provision of decent housing for Smokey Mountain’s residents, the clearing of the Smokey Mountain dumpsite and development of the 21.2 hectares land area into a residential and livelihood and commercial complex for the benefit of the area residents, and the reclamation of land from the adjoining Manila Bay with an area of 79 hectares and its development into a residential, industrial and port-related business center. It is now called "Harbour Centre." — Perseus Echeminada