Tuesday, July 01, 2008 Whistleblower denies ‘defending’ Radaza
BUSINESSMAN Cri-sologo Saavedra yesterday denied allegations that he has turned from lamppost scam whistle-blower to, at least for Lapu-Lapu Mayor Arturo Radaza, a defense advocate.
While he admitted that in a Power Point presentation before Ombudsman Special Prosecutors last Friday he concluded that “the local government of Lapu-Lapu was not part of the collusion scheme of Fabmik, Mandaue and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH),” the findings were “not made for Radaza’s benefit.”
“I am not trying to protect the mayor or anybody else for that matter. But insisting (on) his guilt will only weaken the case. It may make it appear that the evidences the Ombudsman have are not enough to convict anybody because it was not even enough to convict Radaza,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
“Let us not be carried away just because Radaza is not very popular,” he added.
Saavedra is reportedly among the witnesses the Ombudsman’s Office of the Special Prosecutor is planning to present before the Sandiganbayan in the pending anti-graft cases against Radaza, former Mandaue City mayor Thadeo Ouano and others.
Observations
Saavedra made a Power Point presentation of the case and delivered a report before special prosecutors in Manila last Friday.
Among the “observations” he raised in the presentation was the role the Program of Works and Estimates (Powe) that was prepared by the Mandaue City government, through its engineers and approved by then mayor Ouano, played in the DPWH’s alleged purchase of overpriced decorative lamps and streetlights for the 12th Asean summit.
He said the Powe wasn’t prepared for use in identifying a funding source, as Ouano and his engineers alleged, because the DPWH already had a source of funds–-the Motor Vehicles Users Charge–-even before the estimates were made.
The third was on Lapu-Lapu City and how, unlike Mandaue City, it didn’t prepare its own Powe for the lampposts and streetlights the DPWH bought and installed in its jurisdiction.
Central issue
“The local (officials of the) government of Lapu-Lapu received a copy of the Powe from the DPWH for their signature only... not to prepare (one). The bidding and award (for Lapu-Lapu City) was done after the bidding and the award for the contract of the Mandaue local government (for the) installation of the street lighting facilities,” his report read.
Saavedra believes that proving who prepared the Powe is the central issue in the anti-graft case.
“The figures in the Powe coincided, up to the last centavo, in the bidding documents that the contractor (Fabmik Construction and Equipment Supply Corp.) submitted to the DPWH and which the DPWH approved. There was collusion there because this simply cannot be a coincidence,” he said.
“The question now is who prepared the Powe? Mandaue City prepared the Powe and (former mayor Ouano) has admitted that,” he added.
Ouano, through lawyer Gloria Lastimosa-Dala-wampu, has downplayed this, however, adding that the Powe is nothing more than a “lesson plan.”
She maintained that Mandaue officials, including the ones from Lapu-Lapu, were not part of the actual bidding and procurement procedure.
“So why would they be liable?” she had said in a previous interview.
Prices
The lamppost scam involves the alleged purchase and installation of overpriced decorative lamps on the streets of Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Cebu City as part of the preparation for the 12th Asean summit early last year.
Lamppost models that cost only P7,536.96; P8,121.20; P9,523.37; P6,737.79; and P11,750.00, according to import documents from China, were reflected as being worth P72,500; P85,500; P95,000 and P50,000, respectively, in the program of works and estimates that were prepared by the DPWH together with the Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu City Governments.
Criminal
Seven separate criminal cases were filed against a total of 21 people by the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas before the Sandi-ganbayan.
Charged were former DPWH 7 director Roberto Lala, Assistant Directors Gloria Dindin and Marlina Alvizo, Division Chiefs Pureza Fernandez, Cre-sencio Bagolor, Agusti-nito Hermoso, Luis Galang, Restituto Diano and Bue-naventura Pajo.
Likewise charged were former Mandaue City mayor Ouano, City Engineer Hidelisa Latonio, Assistant Engineers Gregorio Omo, Mario Gerolaga, Alfredo Sanchez Jr. and Rosalina Denque, as well as Mayor Radaza, City Engineer Julito Cuizon and Assistant Engineers Fer-nando Tagaan and Roge-lio Veloso.
Also impleaded were Isabelo Braza, the president and chairman of Fabmik, and Gerardo Surla, Gampik Construction and Development Inc. chairman.
The DPWH officials were impleaded in all seven cases. (KNR)
