PHILIPPINE Reclamation Authority (PRA) chairman Ramon Revilla Sr. has suspended for 90 days five officials of the agency charged with graft in connection with the alleged overpricing in the construction of the P1.1-billion President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard (PDMB) in Pasay City.
The five were PRA general manager for finance and legal administration Theron Victor Lacson, assistant general manager Jaime Millan, technical services department manager Bernardo Viray, project management officer Raphael Pochollo Zorilla, and legal department manager Cristina Amposta Mortel.
Revilla’s move was in compliance with a July 30 directive from the anti-graft court’s First Division, ordering that the five PRA executives be placed under preventive suspension.
The five, along with several other PRA officials, were charged with graft in connection with the construction of the 5.1-kilometer highway dubbed by government critics as “road to perdition.”
The graft case stemmed from the disclosure of former PEA board director Sulficio Tagud that a portion of the PDMB constructed by Legaspi’s firm was overpriced by over P630 million.
Other defendants include former PEA board chairmen and directors who served during the Estrada and Arroyo administrations.
In a manifestation filed with the First Division, Revilla said his office implemented the suspension order immediately upon receipt of the court’s resolution.
“In compliance with the Order of this Honorable Court, the PRA immediately suspended the accused for a period of 90 days, effective last August 4, 2008 until November 2, 2008,” the PRA chief said.
The suspension order came after the Sandiganbayan upheld the validity of the indictment of all the accused in the graft case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman. (Sunnex)
