MANILA, Philippines - Concerned officials defended yesterday the Presidential Bridges Program under the Arroyo administration that is being investigated by the Senate.
At issue is a series of anomalous contracts worth P111.942 billion that spanned 11 years.
Former executive secretary Ronaldo Zamora explained that the bridges program started during time of former President Fidel Ramos and was carried over to the administrations of former Presidents Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
He explained that the project was an offshoot of the peace agreement between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
“This really started in 1996 when a peace agreement was signed between President FVR (Ramos) and the chairman of the MNLF at that time, chairman Nur Misuari,” Zamora said at the start of the public hearings of the Senate committees on accountability of public officers and investigations (Blue Ribbon) and on public works and highways.
“In the peace program, it was agreed that certain programs would be included in the main peace program, to bring about development, peace and progress,” said Zamora, executive secretary during the Estrada administration.
Zamora even pointed out that the program was first implemented during the stewardship of former executive secretary Teofisto Guingona Jr., father of Blue Ribbon chairman Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, during the term of Ramos.
Sen. Sergio Osmeña III wanted to know details of the contracts entered into with Mabey & Johnson on the steel bridges construction projects during the past administration.
He also compared these bids to those of other proponents, such as Balfour-Cleveland, Balfour-Beatty, and Matiere.
Osmeña said during the hearing that the official development assistance (ODA) grant was being used to forego the need to subject the bridge projects to the mandatory government bidding process.
Former National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) director general Felipe Medalla said that NEDA’s requirement is competitive bidding.
“The standard approach is competitive bidding.” Medalla said.
“I am looking into Mabey contracts. And these are not ODA-financed,” Osmeña argued.
“There are two points I want to make here. Balfour & Cleveland, that is part of the infra arm of the UK (United Kingdom) government. But Mabey & Johnson did not have any grant. It was misrepresented as ODA but it did not have any grant from the UK government,” Osmeña pointed out.
“Having said that, if there is no grant from government, then it is not ODA. If you knew there was no grant from government, then you won’t consider it as ODA loan,” Osmeña told Medalla.
Medalla then presented before the committee a letter dated March 2009, written by former British Ambassador Alan Collins.
“This is together with the fact that it is a two percent loan. If you were borrowing it in foreign markets, we will be borrowing at (certain) percent, and it’s commercial,” Osmeña said.
Osmeña said he is baffled why Mabey & Johnson was described as the sole supplier of the pre-fabricated bridges.
“But we did not check, did we? So NEDA never violated this claim of Mabey & Johnson,” the senator said.
Osmeña said he is mulling the filing of graft charges against past officials of key implementing agencies involved in alleged anomalies attending the P111-billion bridge construction projects carried out by at least three previous administrations.
While foreign funding for the projects obtained during the Ramos administration appear to be “legitimate grants,” Osmeña said the committee is looking into evidence that would show how the bridge program was “manipulated” during the Arroyo administration, during which the projects were marked with cost overruns.
“We will go down to the contracts itself to show kung sino ang mga nakinabang (who benefited),” Osmeña said.