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Witnesses tag Arroyo hubby in bribery for road projects


MANILA, Philippines – Witnesses interviewed by the World Bank (WB) in its investigation into the alleged rigged bids for its road projects in the country pointed to First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo as involved in bribery of infrastructure projects funded by the Bank, an opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson said on Wednesday. In a telephone interview with GMANews.TV, Lacson cited a portion of the WB report where witnesses told Bank investigators that the husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and a former senator had to be bribed for them to enter into businesses in the country. "There are at least eight witnesses na na-interview [ng World Bank]. At least eight witnesses ang nagtestify, sinasabi yung rigging ng bid at tsaka yung bribery sa ibang officials. One former senator, he was named, tapos si FG… Sabi nila, di ka makakapasok sa negosyo kung di ka maglalagay sa mga tao na 'yun," Lacson said. [At least eight witnesses were interviewed and had testified that there was bid-rigging and bribery of officials including a former senator who was named and the First Gentleman. The witnesses said they will not be allowed to conduct business in the Philippines without paying off those people.] Lacson, however, declined to name the former senator. Lacson said the WB did not name all the witnesses and gave them only code names. "I think there are two or three Chinese, one Japanese, and one Filipino. Yung iba coded na. Yung iba identified [Some were given code names, while some were identified]," Lacson said. Lacson also said the report also tagged other "congressmen and DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways] officials" as receiving bribe. In a separate interview on dzXL, Lacson likewise said the WB report mentioned Boy Belleza and indicated he was a "big-time fixer" at the DPWH. The report also named one DPWH director, Vic Perez, he said. "Nabanggit din dun sa report yung isang Boy Belleza at isa pa na sinasabing siyang nangangasiwa parang ito yung mga big-time fixers sa DPWH na siyang nangangasiwa dun sa pakikipag-usap sa mga sasaling kontratista at saka mga higher bidders ng public works," he said. ["The report mentioned one Boy Belleza and another person and described them as big-time fixers at the DPWH."] In the telephone interview, Lacson said “collusive meetings" with the officials and the contractors were held at the Diamond Hotel in Manila. 'Inconclusive' On the other hand, lawyer Ruy Rondain - the counsel for Mr. Arroyo - dismissed Lacson's allegations, saying reports that the First Gentleman was involved in the bribery were "inconclusive." Rondain also denied earlier reports saying that it was a Japanese contractor that named the First Gentleman in WB investigations. "Well, I've been telling the press that it's inconclusive. The First Gentleman has never met with any Japanese contractor. He has no dealing with the World Bank and the Japanese contractor was nameless. If he does exist, he lied," Rondain said. "There was never any meeting with the First Gentleman. Kung mayroon, he can appear and testify under oath so I can cross-examine him," he said. Debarment The Bank on Jan. 15 blacklisted the three Filipino firms, along with four Chinese construction firms, after finding that they had rigged bids for local road projects funded by the agency. The institution also suspended the release of $33 million for the road projects. EC de Luna Construction Corp. was prohibited from bidding for World Bank Projects while Cavite Ideal International Construction and Development Corp. and CM Pancho Construction Inc. were banned from participating in bidding for four years. Eduardo de Luna, owner and sole proprietor of EC de Luna, was also debarred permanently. The World Bank also barred China Road and Bridge Corp. from bidding for eight years. China State Construction and China Wu Yi were barred for six years and China Geo-Engineering was barred for five years. Last week, Lacson alleged that De Luna met with Mr. Arroyo at least 20 times in 2002. The senator also said De Luna was the mystery man behind an alleged P70-million bribe try for a multibillion-peso infrastructure project. Lacson said the appointments book of the First Gentleman in 2002 showed proof of the meetings between De Luna and Mr. Arroyo. But the camp of President Arroyo’s husband has since denied that the meetings occurred, adding that the appointments book cannot be admissible as evidence because it may not be authentic. - GMANews.TV
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