MANILA - The Senate blue ribbon committee has requested the parties involved in the alleged overpricing of the P700-million Iloilo Convention Center (ICC) to provide documents related to the construction of the ICC, a pet project of Senator Franklin Drilon.
In a formal letter sent on Monday, Senator Teofisto Guingona III, panel's chair, asked Department of Public and Works Highway (DPWH) Secretary Rogelio Singson, Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr., and former Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada to submit the documents before the week ends.
"Among the allegations in the said Resolution is that the construction of Iloilo Convention Center (ICC) is overpriced in P531 million. In relation thereto, may we be furnished documents relevant to this allegation. We will appreciate it very much if the documents are submitted to us before the end of this week," the letter read.
Mejorada filed a complaint of plunder malversation of funds, and graft against Senate President Franklin Drilon before the Ombudsman for alleged violation of the Government Procurement Reform Act.
The former official based his accusation on Drilon's statement in April 2012 that the ICC would cost only around P300 million.
Mejorada also filed criminal and administrative complaints against Singson and DPWH Undersecretaries Jaime Pacanan and Romeo Momo; DPWH-Western Visayas regional director Edilberto Tayao, DPWH-Western Visayas Bids and Awards Committee chairperson Marilyn Celiz; Jimenez, and Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Authority chief operating officer Mark Lapid.
Complaints were also filed against W.V. Coscoluella and Associates and Hilmarc's Construction Corporation, the project's contractors.
Drilon, however, insisted that Mejorada's accusation is "totally baseless and utterly ridiculous."
Detained Senator Jinggoy Estrada earlier challenged Guingona to probe the alleged overpriced ICC. He said the panel could conduct an investigation of any matter of public interest on its own initiative or brought to its attention by any member of the Senate.
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago recently filed Senate Resolution 906 seeking to probe the alleged anomalous transactions involving multi-billion pesos in public funds between Hilmarc's Construction Corporation and certain local government units.
Santiago cited in her resolution that the construction of ICC was overpriced by P531 million.
Guingona said the blue ribbon would formally investigate the alleged overpriced ICC project and other issues related to it.
Drilon's allies in the Liberal Party (LP) however dismissed the charges against him as "logically flawed."
"Why was Drilon included in the case, when he did not have a hand in the implementation of the bidding process of the Iloilo project?" Eastern Samar Representative Ben Evardone, a spokesperson for the LP, asked.
Evardone said that as a lawmaker, Drilon's role was limited to finding the needed funds to finance the project, which is part of a campaign to improve Iloilo's capacity to host the 2015 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ministerial meetings.
He then asked the public not to believe the attempt of the camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay to divert public attention from the corruption allegations against him, which is a subject of the investigation of the Senate Blue Ribbon sub-committee.
"Obviously, the President did not heed Binay's request to stop the Blue Ribbon Subcommittee investigation. Thus we suspect the filing of the graft cases against Drilon is mere harassment to finally thwart the Senate’s probe of the alleged overpricing of the Makati City Hall and allegations of ill-gotten wealth against the Vice President," Western Samar Representative Mel Senen Sarmiento said.
Sarmiento clarified that the LP does not object to a Senate investigation on the ICC. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)