Caught rushing LRT-1, they're giving alibis

Last minute thievery is going on in the Arroyo admin. High officials are filching money to feather retirement nests or fatten election campaign war chests. SAROs (Special Allotment Release Orders) are being sold to long-time government contractors for only 15 percent of the amount, but still worth tens of millions of pesos. Heading the racket is an influential deputy at the budget department, in cahoots with a presidential candidate’s chief of staff. Even Malacañang execs are taking cuts, for the all-important role of having the SAROs released.

Problem is, the gypped contractors found out that the SAROs are unfunded. Some are trying to get their money back, to no avail.

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Jan. 11 and 13 I exposed the DOTC’s impending award of the LRT-1 extension project to a Chinese state firm — illegally without public bidding. An election ban on public works had just begun Jan. 10. The deal would cost $1.78 billion, to be lent by China, but has no Monetary Board assent for such foreign loan. Alarmed that the Arroyo admin was cooking up another NBN-ZTE-like scam, senators vowed full-blown investigation. Suddenly those related to the scheme tried to distance themselves from it. The NEDA wrote that as far as it was concerned, the DOTC only submitted papers for approval but has yet to answer some questions. DOTC Sec. Larry Mendoza, as LRT chairman, said they would no longer pursue the project since their term is expiring on June 30. USec. Guiling Mamondiong added that they would let the next admin handle it since projects of its size take two years to gestate. And the Chinese embassy let on that Shanghai Group was far from finalizing a contract with the Philippine government.

Another scam aborted, more billions of pesos saved — all in a day’s work for an investigative journalist. But I cannot let pass the way they’re covering their tracks by making it seem like I misreported things. Their obfuscation must be further exposed, to show them for what they really are. In the heat of my 2007 exposé of the ZTE scam I was threatened with death, accused of stealing the contract, menaced with lawsuits for disclosing supposedly confidential proprietary information, deprived of public documents, and badmouthed by paid hacks. They’re up to their old tricks.

Like, Mendoza, in a press briefing Jan. 15 at the Boracay airport inaugural, claimed that, “contrary to allegations made by Bondoc, DOTC has not signed any contract with the Chinese.” To be sure, I never reported that they already have signed anything. On the contrary, it was Mendoza’s deputy, Mamondiong, who announced Jan. 5 that the Chinese firm was likely to win the LRT project. He said the DOTC was close to awarding it to Shanghai Group because it comes with a China EximBank loan. He was silent about the legal breaches: the coming election ban on government contracting in five days, and lack of Monetary Board clearance. Mendoza can check the news stories that came out the next day, instead of distorting my points based on Mamondiong’s words.

Also, NEDA, in its Letter to the Editor of Jan. 16, stated it “has asked DOTC for clarification on some information contained in the submission.” Fine, but again it was Mamondiong who was quoted in Jan. 6 news reports as saying that NEDA “was already reviewing the proposal of the Chinese. The proposal is very advanced; the study was already done and submitted to NEDA. Most likely it will be through ODA.” Mamondiong did appear to be careless with words. In a letter to me Jan. 13 he attributed to NEDA his statements: “In its final report dated Dec. 9, 2009, NEDA released the results of its Value Analysis favoring the (Chinese) ODA (loan)... The result of the NEDA Value Analysis is the source of my press statement, thus the allegation that I am favoring the Chinese group is not true.” Magturuan kayo, blame each other, but again don’t distort what I wrote.

Mamondiong claimed that the Chinese offer is $1.016 billion, not $1.78 billion, which was the price of the International Finance Corp. In that case, he should verify the accuracy of his own press release. All the reports on Jan. 6, the bases of my own articles, quoted him as saying the Chinese offer is $1.78 billion.

Lastly, Mamondiong said in his letter to me: “Bidding for the project will be conducted, but it will be in accordance with Chinese ODA.” That is the biggest lie of all. Philippine law requires public bidding before any project is awarded. If the Chinese procedure is followed, there will be no auction, not even a private one. Beijing central authorities will only assign the project to whatever state company they pick. That happened in the cases of Northrail and ZTE, thus questioned by the Senate.

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PNP Director General Jesus Verzosa confirms what many have long known: that prison inmates can be employed to assassinate political rivals or prying newsmen. Dapat, to get to the bottom of the racket, Verzosa should inventory the firearms issued to wardens. Dapat, to solve recent murders, he should recruit stool pigeons in prisons. Dapat, to learn the details, he should investigate a retired police general who’s an expert in it.

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 “People at peace with God and themselves are the starting point of the peace we seek in this world.” Shafts of Light, Fr. Guido Arguelles, SJ

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