Sunday, August 19, 2007 Tomas ‘right’ in questioning Cal’s credibility
REP. Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north district) yesterday said Cebuano urban planner Primitivo Cal “missed the point” after complaining that Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña resorted to “character assassination” by criticizing his indictment by the Sandiganbayan.
The Sandigan ordered the filing of complaints against Cal and three others over the construction of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminal 3 in 1996.
Charges
Cal was Department of Transportation and Communication undersecretary that time when he acted as head of the pre-qualification bids and award committee, which awarded the project to the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco).
The Sandigan said the contract entered into by the government was “grossly disadvantageous,” and charged Cal and his companions for choosing Piatco even when they knew that the consortium did not have adequate funds to undertake the project.
“So, whose opinion do you think matters? (That of) somebody who is being indicted by the Sandiganbayan, or that of the mayor?” Osmeña told reporters last Wednesday upon learning of the Sandiganbayan decision.
“In a democracy and our system of justice, people are considered innocent until proven guilty. The (Sandiganbayan) case and my study are unrelated. I ask Mayor Osmeña to look into the merits of my Gov. Cuenco Ave. traffic engineering study rather than resort to character assassination,” Cal said in response.
Missed the point
But del Mar said: “He (Cal) missed the point when the mayor brought up the matter of his being charged. He (mayor) was not resorting to character assassination as cried by Dr. Cal. He was raising the issue of credibility.”
The congressman said serious questions should be raised about Cal’s reliability as an expert following the Sandigan’s decision to indict Cal for the fiasco.
(The Philippine Government recently won in the corruption case filed in the World Bank’s International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes by German company Fraport AG, which has a 30 percent stake in Piatco.)
“Questions should not merely be on the merits of the study. They should also go over the background, expertise, and character of the person who made the recommendations,” del Mar said.
Cal called as inadequate the proposed P150-million Banilad flyover, which del Mar is funding, and suggested that a four-lane divided flyover, among other remedial measures, should be built instead.
Alternatives
He also proposed that the road from the Foodland area to the University of San Carlos-Technological Center be widened to accommodate more northbound vehicles.
Instead of a flyover, he likewise suggested widening Gov. Cuenco Ave. to a six-lane divided highway; improving layouts of the Mahiga (J. Panis St.) and Foodland intersections; reconstructing Mahiga Bridge to provide a six-lane divided road; and leveling the slope approaches leading to the bridge.
But del Mar said they had long acknowledged that the flyover alone will not solve the problem.
He said that around P1 billion would be needed to implement other measures like road widening, which should not only be on Gov. Mariano Cuenco Ave. but also on Canduman and Cabangcalan roads in neighboring Mandaue City.
But as of the moment, he said, the only funds available is that for the flyover, which will be built at the Gov. Mariano Cuenco Ave.-A.S. Fortuna St. intersection. (RHM)
