Friday, January 11, 2008 Subpoena asked for witnesses
BUSINESSMAN Crisologo Saavedra has asked Sen. Panfilo Lacson to subpoena the governor, vice governor and broadcaster Leo Lastimosa, among others, to testify before the Blue Ribbon Committee as it examines the handling of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) project.
In an interview, Saavedra said the testimonies of the persons concerned will show “the overall unlawful scheme and conspiracy” that allegedly included splitting contracts and the lack of a competitive bidding.
The Capitol, through consultant Rory John Sepulveda, has repeatedly said it will welcome the chance to address the Senate committee and submit necessary documents on the CICC, which it maintains was built in a cost-efficient and lawful manner.
Saavedra wrote the senator last Jan. 2 and gave the names of 18 people, including Deputy Ombudsman Pelagio Apostol and Commission on Audit (COA) 7 Director Delfin Aguilar.
Apostol, he alleged, “refused to investigate the CICC anomalous transactions for the reason that he (doesn’t) have enough lawyers to handle the case and has to wait for the evaluation of the COA Region 7 director.”
Aguilar, according to Saaved-ra, “is responsible for the delay of the evaluation of the COA.”
He also included former COA 7 attorney Roy Ursal who supposedly “opposed the splitting of the superstructure contract” and “warned the Provincial Government not to proceed with the splitting of the contracts.”
Lacson earlier filed House Resolution 262 asking the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee to investigate two Asean Summit expenditures: the allegedly overpriced lampposts of Cebu City and Mandaue (Lapu-Lapu City wasn’t mentioned) and the CICC.
The governor, Saavedra alleged, carried out and was “responsible” for the implementation of the CICC construction project but “gave wrong figures” on just how much was spent.
He included Vice Gov. Greg Sanchez and said he “was the project manager of the CICC.”
Lastimosa, according to Saavedra, should be invited because he made an “expose” of the expenditures of the CICC over ABS-CBN and asked for an accounting of almost P1 billion in local government funds spent for the project.
Included
Included in the list of 18 is architect Manuel Guanzon, who planned and supervised the construction, as well as lawyers Roy Salubre and Mariano Martinquilla, Eduardo Habin, Emi Gingoyon and engineers Adolfo Quiroga, Ernesto Biernes and Eulogio Pelayre, all of the Capitol bids and awards committee.
WT Construction is also included in the list and indicated as having implemented the three contracts that involved the CICC project.
Likewise named are engineer Apollo Enriquez and architect Alexius Medalla.
Saavedra said that Enriquez was the Capitol’s consultant to the original megadome project, for which Medalla was the selected architect.
“The testimony of Architect Medalla is very important to determine the history of the CICC because he won the reward in the design of the project,” Saavedra said in his letter.
“He has knowledge of how the project started and will be able to give the original budget for the project,” the businessman said of Enriquez. (KNR)
