Palace: It's up to FG to attend World Bank probe

Malacañang reiterated yesterday that it has no control over First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and cannot compel him to appear before the Senate inquiry into the World Bank (WB)-funded road projects controversy.

Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez said Malacañang could not compel or even advise Mr. Arroyo to attend the Senate probe since he is not a member of the executive branch.

Golez said Mr. Arroyo is a private citizen entitled to make his own decisions.

“First of all, the First Gentleman will have his own legal advisers. We are not in a position to advise the First Gentleman,” Golez said.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has invited Mr. Arroyo as well as some congressmen and public works officials to appear before the Senate investigation into the WB report implicating them in anomalies in the bidding of government infrastructure contracts.

Legal counsel and spokesman Ruy Rondain said Mr. Arroyo is willing to attend the inquiry but only if he gets clearance from his doctors because of his sensitive health condition.

Rondain has denied any involvement by the First Gentleman in any government infrastructure project, including those funded by the WB.

He also said Mr. Arroyo has nothing to hide.

While Malacañang consistently steered clear of the controversies surrounding Mr. Arroyo, it has given some degree of support to him as the President’s husband.

Golez said Mr. Arroyo, being a private citizen, is also entitled to legal protection.

He said the accusers should prove their allegations against Mr. Arroyo.

“What is important is that evidence should be presented and this evidence should be able to stand in court,” Golez said.

Contractors cited in the WB report tagged Mr. Arroyo and several government officials in supposed bribery and fixing of bids for World Bank-funded projects.

‘Persona non-grata’

Santiago urged Mr. Arroyo to appear before the Senate and explain why he was among those implicated in the scandal.

Santiago though wants the complete and official copy of the report from the WB in order to have proper jurisdiction over Mr. Arroyo and the other personalities that were supposedly mentioned.

The WB, however, has refused to furnish Santiago and the Senate committee on economic affairs investigating the scandal the original copy of the report.

Santiago was fuming mad and sought to have WB country director Bert Hofman declared “persona non-grata” for refusing to cooperate with the Philippine government, particularly the Senate, in its investigation.

But while Santiago was angry with the WB, government sources said contractors who were invited to the Senate hearing last Jan. 27 might have sanitized the WB report that they submitted to the senators.

Sources explained that the WB Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) is independent of WB offices worldwide such as the one in Manila, and copies of its report are given to the “appropriate government agencies,” in this case the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Office of the Ombudsman.

There were several copies of the report but the notice of sanctions proceedings was the most detailed.

Copies of the notice of sanctions proceedings were given to the contractors as respondents so they could reply to the charges, the sources said.

The concerned contractors were also allowed to ask for a hearing to defend themselves and some of them reportedly did so.

The sources said the notice of sanctions proceedings was supposed to be more complete than the referral report given to the DOF and the Ombudsman in November 2007.

The referral report is the final report and summary of the proceedings, which is a shorter version.

“The WB/Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) Unit wants the government to do its own investigation. The INT encourages each government to conduct its own investigation into the charges. The National Bureau of Investigation did not get a copy (of the report),” sources pointed out.

Santiago, however, said the refusal of the WB to furnish her a copy of the report was “insulting.”

She said the WB could be guilty of abuse of privilege with its refusal to cooperate with Philippine government authorities.

“The best evidence is the original documents. (The WB attitude) makes me want to punch them. Maybe they think we’re still an American colony,” Santiago said over radio station dwIZ.

Santiago said she was forced to resume the hearing notwithstanding the absence of any solid proof to link the personalities involved in the scam.

She said she was expecting those accused of irregularities to simply deny the allegations, forcing the committee to make its own conclusions over which side is telling the truth.

According to Santiago, she had no choice but to call on Mr. Arroyo and the other personalities implicated in the controversy to appear before the panel and give their side of the story.

“If the First Gentleman is really innocent, he should even welcome the opportunity to refute the allegations against him,” she said.

Since Mr. Arroyo has a delicate heart condition, Santiago said the senators would have to decide on the gravity of the questions they would ask him.

Santiago said she would not want to be responsible for a person’s life.

“If the doctor says under oath that the First Gentleman’s testifying will be life-threatening then we cannot do anything,” she said.

Santiago said Mr. Arroyo could just send a representative, issue a statement or a deposition.

“I can authorize the taking of deposition,” she said.

Precedent

Santiago said she had written Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo to lodge a diplomatic protest and declare the WB country director in the Philippines persona non grata.

She said WB officials might be enjoying immunity under international treaties or conventions but this would not allow them to abuse their privilege.

Santiago stressed she could not understand why the WB denied her request.

Even though confidentiality of bank documents must be respected, Santiago insisted there are exceptions.

She warned that she could compel the appearance of the WB officials by a subpoena, even if they could not be compelled to appear at the Senate under international laws.

This issue, Santiago explained, could even reach the Supreme Court and serve as precedent.

Santiago said the WB could be kicked out of the country because it did not have any headquarters agreement with the Philippine government.

Be ‘attentive’ to the reality

European Union Ambassador Alistair MacDonald said the Philippines has to be “attentive” to the reality and protect its image that has been stained by allegations of corruption in government.

MacDonald said the Philippines’ image has been projected negatively because of anomalous transactions and the corruption in road projects detailed in the WB report.

“Every country around the world has to be attentive to its reality and to its image, and the image of the Philippines that has been projected in the international press is negative. I think that certainly has a potential impact on investors,” MacDonald told reporters during an interview at the Red Hot New Zealand Week events at the EDSA Shangri-la Hotel on Friday evening.

“Corruption is a universal risk. It can arise in any society anywhere, anytime and the important thing is that if corruption arises it has to be investigated, prosecuted and the guilty has to be punished. That’s the only way to deal with this,” he added.

When asked if rampant corruption will lead to a reduction in EU assistance to the Philippines, MacDonald said the EU is always attentive to issues and developments in countries and will assure that assistance will go to where it is intended.

“As far as the European Commission is concerned, we’re always attentive in every country around the world in the quality of our assistance. And part of our job in the delegation is to make sure the assistance goes to where it is intended to go, so we’ve always been attentive to the issue,” he said.

MacDonald said the EU has a robust control system in place to make sure that their assistance goes to where it is intended.

Washington also said the Philippine government should ensure transparency in biddings and awarding of contracts for government projects.

US Ambassador Kristie Kenney admitted that the WB report on irregularities is a “complicated” issue.

Kenney, however, refused to comment when asked whether the Philippines suffered another big blow in getting approved by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) for the anti-corruption fund because of the WB report and the banning and suspension of contractors. – With Aurea Calica and Pia Lee-Brago