Makati exec admits bidding for city hall annex rigged

MANILA, Philippines - Former Makati general services division chief Mario Hechanova told the Senate yesterday all infrastructure projects undertaken in the city when Vice President Jejomar Binay was mayor were rigged.

When he was a member  of Makati’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), they ensured that contracts for all infrastructure projects were awarded to Hilmarc’s Construction Corp., he added.

Hechanova said then Makati City engineer Nelson Morales, now deceased, gave them specific orders that Hilmarc’s be awarded with the contract for construction of the annex building of Makati City Hall.

“It’s true, we rigged the bidding,” he said in Filipino.

Testifying during the fourth hearing of a sub-committee of the Blue Ribbon yesterday, Hechanova said no questions were asked when it came to orders from Morales.

Morales was known to them as the alter ego of then Mayor Binay, he added.

Hechanova said the rigging of the bidding process was a policy of the Makati City government at the time.

Rigging started from Hilmarc’s submission of all necessary documents, he added.

Hechanova said the BAC would ensure that the submissions of other bidders were higher than the bid of Hilmarc’s.

The names of the other bidders came from Hilmarc’s itself, he added.

Replying to a question of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV,  Hechanova said they had creative ways of taking out from the equation other contractors interested in joining the bidding,

“Sometimes we would eliminate them due to a technicality,” he said.

“We would take them out in the post-qualification stage.”

Hechanova said one time, they decided to trap one of the bidders in an elevator at City Hall on the day they were supposed to submit requirements.

The delay made them late in submitting their bid, he added.

Hechanova denied receiving any kickback for his role in rigging the bids of contractors.

BAC members received a monthly allowance of P200,000 from Binay, he added.

Hechanova said he worked for 19 years at the Makati City government. He decided to resign before 2010 after Binay reneged on his promise to Mercado to be the next mayor, he added.

Cakes

Hechanova also linked Sen. Nancy Binay to the supply of cakes given by the city government to   senior citizens during their birthday.

Mayor Binay once summoned him to his office and scolded him for delays in the payment of cakes to Nancy, he added.

Some documents did not contain the signatures of supposed recipients of cakes so he did not process the payments, Hechanova said.

Replying to a question of Trillanes, Hechanova said he assumed that the supply of cakes was the business of Nancy, he added.

Senator Binay denied that she was involved in the supply of cakes to the city government as she does not own any bakeshop and does not know anything about baking.

“I deny again in the strongest terms possible and condemn the malicious claim of engineer Hechanova,” she said.

“I did not, again, I did not benefit from the cakes given to senior citizens of Makati. It’s easy to concoct lies or to tell a lie, especially if you have a coach and protector,” she said.

Hilmarc’s assistant vice president for legal Rogelio Peig denied the allegations of Hechanova.

Their company secured all contracts through competitive public bidding, he added.

Peig said the city hall building was not overpriced as critics had alleged.

Its cost was comparable to other projects that they had undertaken with various government agencies, he added.

Peig said it was incorrect to compare public projects with private projects because many variables make the cost of the latter cheaper.

Private owners are able to source their construction materials directly from suppliers, bringing down the cost significantly, he added.

The fact that several middlemen are involved in the entire process in government contracts drives up cost, he said.

Peig belied allegations made during previous hearings that the rise in the cost of steel in 2007 contributed to the high cost of annex building of Makati City Hall.

The contractor absorbs whatever increases in the cost of materials like steel during the course of construction, he added. – With Mike Frialde, Jose Rodel Clapano