NBI to summon DPWH executives, contractors on bid rigging

MANILA, Philippines – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will invite three officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways and five private contractors to shed light on the alleged rigging of bids for road projects, as reported by the World Bank.

“On Monday, we will be issuing subpoenas to some officials of the DPWH, especially the members of the bids and awards committee, and some private contractors who had earlier given testimonies before the other investigators,” Ricardo Diaz, NBI spokesman, said.

Diaz declined to identify the eight whom he described as “witnesses.” The World Bank, in a report, had revealed the alleged collusion between public works officials and some private contractors in rigging the bids for major road projects.

 “We will call them here (at the NBI) and get their statements. Our purpose is to prove that there was collusion in the bidding process,” he said.

One of those invited is the auditor of the DPWH bids and awards committee, who had ruled out collusion between public works officials and private contractors.

When asked if First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo would also be subpoenaed, Diaz said, “We have to lay down first the foundation.”

“We will first call the witnesses. The subjects, or people with allegations that they were involved in the collusion, will not yet be subpoenaed,” he said.

“We have to build up the case first. In the investigation, we have to call first the witnesses before the subjects being implicated,” he said.

Diaz also said the NBI investigators would prefer sworn statements to affidavits from the witnesses.

A sworn statement, he said, is preferable because it is based on witness’s answers to questioning by a law enforcer. An affidavit, on the other hand, is simply a statement prepared with the help of a lawyer.

“That (affidavit) is not credible for us. So we would like to do the questioning,” he said.

Diaz said the NBI intends to go full-blast in its investigation starting next week.

“There must also be ‘forensics’ here. Forensics meaning forensic accounting and forensic auditing where all bid documents will be analyzed,” he pointed out. “We will check if these documents are authentic or fabricated, and if there are signs of collusion,” he said.

Those to be subpoenaed would also be asked to bring the pertinent bid documents aside from being required to verbally testify.

“We have copies of these (documents) already, but we will confront them for purposes of affirmation whether these are their bid documents,” he said.

Last March 26, the NBI revealed they would be investigating all individuals implicated in the bidding controversy, possibly including Mr. Arroyo.

Earlier, NBI chief Nestor Mantaring said they would only be assisting the Ombudsman in investigating the alleged anomaly.

Assistant Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni had said interviews with unnamed witnesses pointed to Mr. Arroyo’s alleged involvement in the irregularity.

But he said Mr. Arroyo would not be included in the Ombdusman’s probe because he is considered a private individual.

Mr. Arroyo’s alleged involvement, he said, was based on testimonies of private contractors in the Senate hearings.