WHERE’S THE REPORT?

Ombudsman can’t act on airport anomaly issue

By Francis Allan L. Angelo and Tara Yap

THE Office of the Ombudsman has not received a copy of the House committee report on the alleged irregularities in the new Iloilo airport project reason why it has yet to investigate the matter.

Sources at the Ombudsman regional office in Iloilo City headed by Atty. Evangeline Nuñal, Associate Graft Investigation Officer I, said the House committee on good government has not furnished their office or the Ombudsman central office a copy of Committee Report No. 1676.

The Ombudsman personnel said Rep. Arthur Defensor (3^rd district, Iloilo), then committee on good government chair, is the best person to ask why the committee report was not forwarded to them.

In a phone interview, Rep. Defensor said a copy of the committee report was submitted to Ombudsman-Iloilo so they can investigate the findings.

Defensor said he did not bother to follow up the progress of the investigation to avoid malice.

Iloilo Vice Governor Rolex Suplico, who also participated in the committee investigation, said a copy of the report was submitted to Ombudsman Visayas based in Cebu.

Suplico is also wondering why the Ombudsman has yet to resolve the case based on the committee findings two years ago.

“I urge the Ombudsman to act on this matter. It’s been two years since the report was submitted for their action,” Suplico said.

Sources familiar with the issue said the Ombudsman-Visayas is set to resolve the new Iloilo airport issue within the next two weeks.

The Daily Guardian tried to get confirmation from deputy Ombudsman for Visayas Pelagio Apostol but to no avail.

QUARRY DUMMIES

TDG discovered this predicament while following up reports that the Ombudsman is set to resolve the airport anomaly issue based on the findings of Committee Report No. 1676.

The committee report, which was approved May 2006 yet, said there is sufficient ground to prosecute Governor Niel Tupas Sr. for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act when the latter allowed his in-laws, the Montesclaros family of Bukidnon province, to join the burrow pit and rock-crushing operations of the project.

The report said the Montesclaros family earned more or less P60 million from its forays in the airport project through alleged dummy Melvin Requinto.

The Defensor-led committee then recommended furnishing copies of Committee Report No. 1676 to the Office of the Ombudsman and Department of Justice for further investigation on the issues raised against Tupas.

Tupas had disputed the committee report saying no irregularity was found in the construction of the airport.

Provincial Administrator Manuel Mejorada said what was cited in the report was the long dead “dummy” issue against Tupas.

The committee on good government also found out that Tupas and his allies in the 8^th Sangguniang Panlalawigan intentionally emasculated the provincial quarry ordinance so that the governor will have the sole power to issue quarry permits to favored contractors.

“It may be argued that under Section 43 of Republic Act 7942, the Governor is given sufficient authority to grant a quarry permit as long as the applicant complies with all the requirements prescribed therefore and he may cancel the same as long as the holder is given the opportunity to be heard in investigation conducted for the purpose. In fact, the (quarry) ordinance of 2000 already covered the whole gamut of activities in the extraction of minerals and quarrying. If indeed the ordinance needed refinements, doing away with the necessary checks in the issuance of permits serves no useful purpose and provides the tempting opportunity for abuse,” the committee report said.

The issue of the “weakened quarry ordinance” prompted the committee on good government to propose amendments to the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.

“The necessary check should be in place to regulate the issuance of small and large-scale quarrying permits to prevent abuse by the executives of local government units in the exercise of their authority,” the report said.

COA okays City Hall-Megaworld land swap deal

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

THE Commission on Audit (COA) gave its nod to the land swap deal between the Iloilo City government and property developer Megaworld Corp. relative to the construction of the New City Hall.

Vice Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, head of a City Hall task force negotiating with Megaworld, said COA found no legal impediments to the land swap deal which will pave the way for the construction of the new City Hall.

Megaworld has offered part of the old airport lot in Mandurriao district as the future site of the new government center. The firm also broached the idea of constructing the building using the P350-million loan City Hall has obtained from the Development Bank of the Philippines.

Mayor Jerry Treñas then tasked Mabilog to negotiate with Megaworld and study the legality of the firm’s offer.

Mabilog said the land swap deal must be advantageous to the City government in terms of the area and value.

“The property that Megaworld is offering must either be equal to or more than what the City government is willing to swap. And the land swap deal must first be approved by COA before it can be consummated,” Mabilog said.

The vice mayor said the city government needs more or less 8,000 square meters on which to build the new City Hall.

The city government is planning to swap the old city hall site across Plaza Libertad with a parcel of Megaworld’s property in Mandurriao.

Mabilog said they have asked the help of the City Assessor’s Office to evaluate the pieces of properties which will be swapped between the City Hall and Megaworld.

“Once the COA has approved the land swap deal, the Sangguniang Panlungsod will authorize the mayor to close the deal with Megaworld,” he added.

As regards Megaworld’s offer to construct the new City Hall, Mabilog said COA stressed the need of a competitive bidding among interested contractors based on procurement laws.

“The construction will not be exclusive to Megaworld. It must bid with other contractors if it wants to handle the project. The P350-million loan will still be used to put up the building. The winning contractor will be paid phase by phase depending on their progress and compliance with the program of works,” the vice mayor said.

The New City Hall has been delayed due to budgetary concerns triggered by escalating prices of construction materials which jacked up budget estimates by 22 percent to P463-million from the initial P379-million.

Mabilog said Megaworld is willing to handle the project using the P350-million DBP loan “without sacrificing the integrity and stability of the new building.”

“Megaworld has a good track record in terms of constructing office buildings. They are willing to undertake the project using the available funds,” Mabilog added.

Mabilog said they have been carefully studying Megaworld’s offer to avoid legal problems.

“Bacolod City did finish its new government center earlier than Iloilo City. But Bacolod City officials are also facing cases before the Ombudsman and we don’t want that to happen here.”