Miriam to skip World Bank briefing; Roxas takes over

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago will skip today’s informal and technical briefing by World Bank officials on its report of rigging of bids for road projects, and asked Sen. Manuel Roxas II to preside over the meeting.

Santiago, chair of the Senate committee on economic affairs, designated committee vice chairman Roxas to take over and submit to her staff the documents to be distributed by the WB so she could make a committee report.

Santiago did not state any reason for her absence but Roxas said she was sick. Santiago earlier said she was suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome and needs to rest.

Roxas said the briefing is important, although the World Bank officials are unlikely to divulge details implicating First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and other officials in the alleged rigging of bids for phase 1 of the National Roads and Improvement Management Program or NRIMP-1.

Three confidential World Bank reports indicate collusion among officials and private contractors in the rigging of bids for NRIMP-1.

These are the “Referral Report and the NRIMP 1 Evidence” forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman, the “Decisions of the Sanctions Board” given to the three Filipino firms blacklisted by the bank for collusive practices, and the “Notice of Sanctions Proceedings,” a copy which is in the possession of Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

World Bank country director Bert Hofman, communications officer David Theis Sr. and regional chief counsel Anthony Thoft will brief the senators.

Roxas said he is not sure if the World Bank would confirm allegations against Mr. Arroyo and the others.

But he said the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, chaired by Sen. Richard Gordon, is set to conduct a separate investigation into the “criminal aspect” of the issue while Santiago would finish the probe on the “economic” aspect of the matter, particularly on government procurement procedures.

The changes in the committees’ tasks were agreed upon in a caucus, which was prompted by criticism of Santiago’s handling of the investigation.

In particular, Roxas and Lacson said they could not understand why the hearing had turned into a World Bank-bashing event.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who moved that Hofman be subpoenaed in a hearing last Feb. 12, said he might no longer attend the briefing.

Roxas said the briefing was a compromise because the World Bank officials enjoy diplomatic immunity and could not actually be summoned by the Senate.

Roxas said the investigation must be pursued to find out the truth behind the controversy.

Defending her agency’s failure to investigate the road project anomalies as reported by the World Bank, Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez told the Senate that she received only a nine-page confidential summary of the World Bank’s investigation into the issue.

“Whether or not the Ombudsman got a full report, they need to answer why her agency did not act to pursue the corrupt persons involved in this case,” Roxas said.

No contractor

Meanwhile, the president of an organization of contractors said the Japanese interviewed by the World Bank in its report may have misrepresented himself because he is a hardware store owner in Japan and not a contractor.

Willy Castor, president of the National Constructors Association of the Philippines Inc. (NACAP), told reporters yesterday that their organization had long suspected Tomatu Suzuka of being engaged in questionable deals and that he had been blacklisted by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

In the World Bank report, Suzuka claimed having met Mr. Arroyo as well as the late Sen. Robert Barbers.

He said bribing officials is key to bagging government contracts in the Philippines.

Castor recalled that the NACAP, which has existed for 25 years, was a non-voting member in the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the DPWH and that it noticed that Suzuka reportedly presented questionable documents when bidding for an infrastructure project in 2002.

“We suggested to the DPWH that before it awards the project, it should first conduct an investigation and study the documents that he submitted. The DPWH asked the consultant to check the background of Suzuka at the Japanese Embassy and what they found out was that he submitted fake documents and that he was a bogus contractor,” Castor said.

“He is a small time hardware store owner in Japan and not a real contractor who was almost awarded a P1-billion contract. He sells different construction materials,” Castor said.

“So if Mr. Suzuka said something against the government, I think he was only sour-graping because he did not get the contract,” he said.

But the NACAP president said he was not inclined to meet and share his information with the World Bank. He suggested that the World Bank coordinate with the DPWH since it has records on Suzuka or it could do its own background check with the Japanese embassy.

But Emiliano Santos, the legal counsel of Suzuka’s agent, Trix Lim, said that the Japanese owns a construction firm in Japan. “As far as I know, he has a contractor firm in Japan called Suzuka Construction Corporation. We are wondering why people are making such a fuss about him, when the project where he (had a) sub-contract did not even push through,” he said.

Excerpts from the World Bank report identified Lim as Suzuka’s local agent. It was Lim who reportedly informed the Japanese contractor that he would have to shell out money in order to get a contact and that dollars would solve any problem with the lending institution.

The Japanese reportedly said that he met Lim in 2001 at the Diamond Hotel together with some policemen and a “Tito Miranda” to discuss alleged payment terms. Miranda was said to be a DPWH Region 4 director.    – With Evelyn Macairan