The case stems from a contract Pamintuan signed with HUDCC and a land developer in May 1997, when he was still mayor of Angeles. In that deal, he tasked Eagleridge Development Corp. to build homes for City Hall employees on a sprawling 12-hectare government land. Billed as his Social Reform Agenda, it would afford city workers house-and-lot packages that match their family incomes. At the same time, City Hall would earn from the sale of homes on an otherwise idle land under a 30:70 revenue sharing with Eagleridge.
Angeles is such a small town, but with a booming property market. Upon learning of the deal, land owners and developers wondered why Pamintuan gave in to a 30:70 sharing. More so since independent and government appraisers were saying that, based on the value of the land versus the developer’s contribution to the project, it should’ve been 40:60.
A little snooping revealed surprises. Pamintuan had not held any competitive public bidding for the project. Moreover, it was a risk-free deal for Eagleridge since Pamintuan allowed it to mortgage the government land to raise cash for the construction. Not only that, he also let Eagleridge subcontract the work to E.A. Ygona Construction.
City Hall lost P12 million from the 10-percent lower share, based on Eagleridge’s P120-million contract. This became apparent when Carmelo Lazatin succeeded Pamintuan as mayor in 1998. That was when Lazatin discovered Eagleridge’s subcontract with Ygona. In December 1999, he renegotiated the contract directly with Ygona, this time with a 40:60 split.
In suing him before the Ombudsman, Angeles good-government crusader Federico Calilung accuses Pamintuan of breaking two provisions of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, to wit:
• Causing undue injury to any party, including the government, or giving any private party unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official, administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence; and
• Entering, on behalf of government, into any contract or transaction manifestly and grossly disadvantageous to the same, whether or not the public official profited or will profit thereby.
President Gloria M. Arroyo would do well to look into this mess in her Pampanga home province. She might inadvertently have let a fox into the chicken coop.
Political old-timers Obet Pagdanganan, Ernesto Herrera and Bobby Tanada didn’t figure. Same with neophytes Solita Monsod and Liwayway Chato. Only Juan Flavier, Joker Arroyo, Jun Magsaysay, Kiko Pangilinan, Serge Osmena, Ralph Recto, Frank Drilon and Manny Villar made the grade. More worrisome for anti-Erap activists is that their hated reelectionist senators Miriam Santoago, Gringo Honasan and Johnny Enrile were in the winning circle, along with Joseph Estrada’s favorite police general Ping Lacson and executive secretary Ed Angara.
The knee-jerk reaction of cause-oriented leaders of EDSA II, not used to the ways of the political world, was to campaign even harder for a 13-0 PPC sweep. But old pros in the electoral game – mostly former activists like them who’ve joined the Establishment – caution that a sweep is impossible. More so if they use the "morally acceptable" tack of presenting issues. Electoral politics is personal in the end. Besides, voters prefer mixed slates. They will have their own good reasons to write Loi Ejercito or Dong Puno in their ballots, or go for independents like Bono Adaza, Manoling Morato, Jun Yasay, Camilo Sabio or reluctant Erap partymates Orly Mercado or Noli de Castro. Thus, the old pros advise the newcomers to consider junking.
Junking is anathema to civil society, however. It connotes deception of voters, treachery to comrades, betrayal of the cause. But do they have a choice once they’ve entered the game of traditional pols?
Junking is a tried-and-tested method by which Bicolanos ensure the Senate entry of more sons and daughters of their region than anywhere else. They write only the names of Bicolano candidates and leave the rest blank. That way, they boost their bets’ chances of winning. The 1998 election saw the victory of three pure Bicolanos and two others who married into the region.
Political analysts expect an 85 percent voter turnout, or 31.5 million out of 37 million registered voters. More if Comelec is able to register four million new voters. PPC and Erap strategists agree that a candidate would need at least seven million votes to make it to become senator. PPC’s eight likely winners are bunched up at the top; the five likely losers are in turn bunched up at numbers 14 to 18. If a million members of cause-oriented groups – the number which their leaders claim to command – junk the eight and vote for only the five, they can make a 13-0 sweep. That is, if the eight continue to rule the top and are able to pull down survey leader Noli de Castro from No. 1 to, say, No. 10. Tough act. Will they try it?
In contrast, junking is not an option for Erap’s candidates – yet. His five are hunched up at slots 9 to 13. If they junk, they risk pulling down the five and replacing them with another five, instead of achieving their desired 9-4 victory.