Ombudsman urged to revisit plunder complaint vs Alvarez

MANILA, Philippines — Advocate group Pinoy Aksyon for Governance and Environment Monday urged the Office of the Ombudsman to reopen its investigation on a plunder complaint against House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez in connection with the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3's build-operate-transfer contract with the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc.

In its 16-page letter, the group said the ombudsman must revisit the complaint filed against Alvarez by the Manila International Airport Authority-NAIA Association of Service Contractors or MASO in 2001 in accordance with a Supreme Court decision in 2005,

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It was in 2002, when the ombudsman under Aniano Desierto dismissed the complaint against Alvarez and other MIAA and NAIA officials prompting MASO to question the ruling before the SC.

In 2005, the SC granted MASO's petition for certiorari and directed the ombudsman “to conduct a preliminary investigation anew of petitioner's complaint.”

"The Supreme Court’s decision in 2005 should have paved the way for a more thorough preliminary investigation of this case, but it appears that no resolution has yet been made," the PAGE's letter read.

"We are not unmindful of the fact that this Complaint was initiated by the MASO, but We, the People, are no less interested in its just resolution. We appeal to the Honorable Ombudsman to shine a light on MASO’s Complaint," it added.

The group said that as contained in MASO's complaint, Alvarez must also be investigated for violation Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and RA 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees for allegedly having financial and pecuniary interest in the NAIA-PIATCO deal.

Entered in July 1997, the BOT contract between NAIA and PIATCO was for the construction of NAIA's Terminal 3.

The PAGE said the contract was awarded to PIATCO “despite not having the financial capability to undertake the project.”

The PAGE said that when the contract was awarded, Alvarez was a senior assistant general manager and chief operating officer of MIAA as well as the chairperson of the Technical Committee of the Department of Transportation and Communications' Pre-qualification Bids and Awards Committee.

The group said that even after Alvarez left the MIAA and became the congressman of the first district of Davao Del Norte in 1998, he continued to have a financial interest in the contract through the company Wintrack Builders Inc. in which his wife Emelita Alvarez was one of the incorporators.

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The PAGE said that in 2014, Wintrack was sub-contracted to clear below-ground debris at the NAIA compound allegedly without the benefit of public bidding.

The group said Emelita's shares in Wintrack is considered as “conjugal property” with her husband under the Family Code. Thus, Alvarez is considered to have a direct interest in the debris clearing deal supposedly amounting to more than P132.5 million.

“Rep. Alvarez was prohibited by the Constitution from maintaining such interest: the Constitution provides that members of Congress may not be indirectly interested in any contract with the Government during their term of office,” the PAGE's letter read.

“Clearly, Rep. Alvarez has evaded liability for his criminal and unethical actions involving the Wintrack Contact for years,” it added.