Clark executives charged with graft over $400-M project

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga, Philippines  – Officials of the state-owned Clark Development Corp. (CDC) were charged with graft and corruption for allegedly entering into a $400-million joint venture project with a Korean investor  that is ”patently disadvantageous to the government.”

The Parañaque City-based First Worldwide Marketing Corp.(FWMC), a former partner of Donggwang Clark Corp. (Donggwang), filed the complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman, saying the joint venture agreement violates the CDC’s charter.

FWMC said the agreement was disadvantageous to the government because the CDC had agreed that arbitration of possible conflict be done by a Singapore-based third party, which reportedly requires an arbitration fee of as much as $280 million, despite a mere $150,000 annual lease the CDC could collect from Donggwang.

The 12-page complaint noted that the CDC allowed the operation and sale of the condominium units at Donggwang Clark Ode Country in the absence of the necessary permits and licenses.

CDC officials were accomplices in assisting Donggwang in defrauding the public by allowing it to misrepresent that some of its stockholders are residents of the country, it added.

FWMC also cited environmental issues, claiming that the CDC had known that the environmental clearance certificate issued to Donggwang was for a previous plan and not the Korean firm’s current project.

Pampanga’s first district Rep. Carmelo  Lazatin said he would file a resolution seeking an investigation into the golf course project in a 304-hectare area inside the freeport to determine whether it violates environmental laws.

“While a robust economy is a goal and dream of every province through projects like this, its negative effects on the environment should not be put in the backburner, especially when millions of lives are at risk,” Lazatin said.

He said his inquiry “will center on why the project was approved despite alleged violations of environmental laws and other government policies.”