Witnesses tag Arroyo hubby in bribery for road projects

(Updated) MANILA, Philippines - A World Bank report on the alleged rigging of bids for its road projects in the Philippines has implicated First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and several other former government officials in the anomaly. Opposition Senator Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday said the report was based on the testimonies of witnesses the World Bank (WB) had summoned for its investigation into the matter. Aside from the President's husband, the report has implicated a former senator, two ex-congressmen and one Public Works official. It said, Mr. Arroyo, former Reps. Prospero Pichay (Surigao del Sur) Jerome Paras (Negros Oriental) and former Public Works Secretary Florante Soriquez allegedly colluded with Eduardo De Luna, owner of EC De Luna construction firm, which is one the companies World Bank has blacklisted for bidding fraud. GMANews.TV has obtained a portion of the WB report. “I would like to report to you the latest move of EC De Luna, these days they are busy in raising the project ABC and force other contractors give to China Geo in 1.4B, China Road in 1.6A and China Wuyi in 1.6B. They use the First Gentleman and local politician like Congressman Paras in (Negros) and Congressman Pichay of Surigao, if the contractors don’t want to coordinate with them they will blacklist you or they will disqualify you always," a portion of the WB report said. “According to [a witness], members of the DPWH who have taken bribes included former Secretary Florante Soriquez (who is close to Mr. Arroyo and Mr. De Luna) and Project Director Lope Adriano," the report added. The WB report showed that the sharing scheme for the commissions was five percent would go to Mr. Arroyo and five to six percent would be for the senator and two ex-congressmen. Moreover, it said three percent would go to the contractor, while 10 to 15 percent would go to officials of government agencies that reviewed the road project. “They already fixed everyone. The ABC adjusted (higher than 10-15% original agency estimate), contractors arrange, SOP divided) (FG 5%, local politician, 5-6%), contractors 3% and some other expenses. The bid price [was] already allocated to different bidders, the bid price of the 3 companies will be 15% higher than the new," the WB report said. Eight witnesses Lacson told GMANews.TV that there were at least eight witnesses the World Bank interviewed for its report. He added that the eight witnesses had testified that there was rigging of bids and bribery of government officials, including lawmakers and the First Gentleman. The witnesses said they wouldn't be allowed to conduct business in the Philippines without paying off those people. Lacson, however, declined to name the former senator, adding that the WB did not identify all the witnesses, but 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]," he said. 'Inconclusive' Mr. Arroyo's counsel Ruy Rondain dismissed Lacson's allegations, saying that pieces of evidence of the First Gentleman's alleged involvement in the anomaly were "inconclusive." Rondain also denied earlier reports saying that it was a Japanese contractor that named the President's husband 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 [If there is], he can appear and testify under oath so I can cross-examine him," he said. Likewise, Pichay refuted the accusations, saying he never influenced anybody to overprice the road projects. In a phone interview with GMANews.TV, Pichay said it was impossible for him to sway the Chinese contractors because he didn't know them. "How can they use me? What's my influence? I'm not part of the bidding committee and I don't even know these people… what's my influence tell me?" Pichay said. Pichay admitted that there was a WB-funded project – the Surigao del Sur-Davao Coastal Road - in his district during his stint as congressman, but he said this did not push through as it was subjected to re-bidding three times for alleged irregularities. “How can they say I influenced the bidding when it was rebid three times?" Pichay said. Meanwhile, former Rep. Jacinto Paras, who spoke in behalf of his brother Jerome, said his brother did not have any power to influence any bidding. "He has nothing to do with that... What can a congressman do in a WB project?" said Paras in a separate phone interview. Pichay also said that these “wild accusations" should be investigated. Debarment The Bank on Jan. 15 blacklisted the three Filipino firms, along with four Chinese construction companies after they allegedly colluded in the bidding process for local road projects funded by the agency. It also suspended the release of $33 million for the projects. EC de Luna Construction Corp. was barred from bidding for WB 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 permanently banned. 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 ever occurred, adding that the appointments book cannot be admitted as evidence because of authenticity question. - GMANews.TV