Palace defends First Gentleman, Ebdane

Malacañang will not sack Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. and Finance Secretary Margarito Teves as urged by Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago in relation to the issue of corruption in a number of World Bank-funded projects.

Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said that Ebdane and Teves continue to enjoy the trust and confidence of President Arroyo as members of her Cabinet.

Dureza also defended First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, who was implicated in the controversy by Sen. Panfilo Lacson during yesterday’s hearing.

Lacson alleged that Mr. Arroyo has ties with one of the blacklisted contractors, based on records of meetings between the two men that he presented.

The First Gentleman’s spokesperson Ruy Rondain said Lacson’s claims were unfounded.

“As we have been saying right from the start, the First Gentleman does not interfere and will never interfere in government matters and transactions. He is a private citizen who wants to devote his time to charity work and medical scholarship programs for his Doctors to the Barrio project. It is his sincere hope that he be left alone in these endeavors,” Rondain said.

Dureza said Mrs. Arroyo continues to value the services of both Teves and Ebdane, and particularly cited Teves for his contributions in managing the local economy, which is better prepared than the rest of the world in handling the current global crisis.

“The Palace continues to value the services of these officials, especially our economic managers. These two gentlemen that are referred to continue to have the trust and confidence of the President,” Dureza said.

Santiago, a staunch ally of the President, called for the relief of the two officials following yesterday’s hearing on the issue of corruption raised by the World Bank.

Teves got the ire of Santiago for not attending the hearing and failing to send anyone from his department to represent him.

Santiago said the relief of Ebdane and Teves would send a strong message that the government would not tolerate collusion among contractors in public sector projects.

In defending the First Gentleman, Dureza said it was unfair for him to be dragged into every controversy involving the administration without any evidence to back up the allegations against him.

“I am sure that these incidents or these supposed reports can be subject to further validation. You know, unfortunately, the First Family had been dragged unduly (into the controversy),” Dureza said.

“Remember they have dragged the name of the First Gentleman many times over in the past, but until now there has been no single iota of evidence that had been brought before the court,” he added.

Meanwhile, Dureza emphasized that the controversy would not affect the entire project being financed by the World Bank.

He explained that only the $33-million component of the project would be affected, while the second part comprising $230 million would still push through.

“In other words, these are isolated issues that should be addressed with great focus. It has not at all affected the bigger pie of World Bank investments in the Philippines,” Dureza said.

Meanwhile, Teves said the Finance department has transmitted to the Office of the Ombudsman the referral report of the World Bank on alleged fraud and corruption in the first phase of the National Roads Improvement and Management Project (NRIMP).

Teves also explained that he failed to attend the Senate hearing because he has to fulfill an earlier commitment to attend a House hearing on the proposed rationalization of the excise tax on tobacco and alcohol products which was held on the same morning.

He also said that the Ombudsman has legal jurisdiction over the matter and the necessary resources to conduct a thorough investigation.

“We received the World Bank report on Nov. 16, 2007 and sent it to the Office of the Ombudsman the next working day on Nov. 19, 2007. As a result of the World Bank’s Department of Institutional Index (INT) findings, the Philippine government and World Bank jointly developed stringent measures in the second phase of the NRIMP loan program to strengthen governance in road projects. Subsequently, the World Bank Board approved financing for NRIMP Phase 2 in May 2008,” Teves said.

Following the World Bank sanction against the companies involved in the INT investigation, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) temporarily suspended the involved companies from participating in any DPWH bidding for locally-funded or foreign-assisted projects.

The Office of the Ombudsman is also set to complete its fact-finding investigation on public officials alleged to be involved in the World Bank project by the first week of February.

The Office of the Ombudsman, for its part, said it sent an official statement/letter to the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs in connection with its probe on the corruption of World Bank funded projects. Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez thought that the letter had already served the purpose of Santiago’s invitation.

In a statement, Assistant Ombudsman Jose de Jesus explained that it was not the Ombudsman’s intention to disappoint Santiago by not attending the hearing.

De Jesus said they immediately sent the letter to Santiago’s office to explain the Ombudsman’s position on the issue. – With Iris Gonzales, Michael Punongbayan