‘Senate Blue Ribbon can look into Iloilo overprice’

MANILA, Philippines - The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee should include the allegedly overpriced P700-million Iloilo Convention Center (ICC) in its list of issues to be investigated now that a resolution has been filed for this purpose.

Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said the Blue Ribbon Committee members could already discuss the resolution filed by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago last September to determine if there is evidence to warrant the conduct of an investigation.

Santiago filed Senate Resolution No. 906 calling for a probe into the alleged anomalous transactions involving multi-billion pesos in public funds between Hilmarc’s Construction Corp. and certain local government units.

Santiago cited the construction of the ICC as one of the projects carried out by Hilmarc’s which, she said, was allegedly overpriced by P531 million.

Senate President Franklin Drilon was accused of plunder by his former consultant Manuel Mejorada in relation to the ICC project.

Drilon admitted pushing for the construction of the ICC and allocating P100 million in funds from the Disbursement Acceleration Program to finance its construction.

It was reported that part of Drilon’s DAP funds also went to this project.

Drilon has dismissed the charges against him as being “malicious and baseless.”

Cayetano explained the chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee, Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, would call for a preliminary meeting among the members of the committee to determine if there is evidence to warrant the conduct of an investigation into the ICC.

He said the procedure would be the same with the investigation of the allegedly overpriced parking building constructed by the city government of Makati and the Malampaya Fund scam, both of which he said were supported by evidence when their respective resolutions were taken up by the Blue Ribbon committee.

“So if there is evidence that it was overpriced, then why not?” Cayetano asked.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who is currently detained and suspended in relation to the charge of plunder filed against him in the pork barrel fund scam case, challenged Guingona to open the investigation into the ICC project.

He said the Blue Ribbon committee can investigate an issue on its own initiative even without a resolution.

“Under the Rules of the Senate, it can conduct an investigation of any matter of public interest on its own initiative or brought to its attention by any member of the Senate,” Estrada said.

He said the allegations against Drilon and Vice President Jejomar Binay are quite similar.

“Both are accused of being behind an overpriced building, and both high ranking officials are already facing plunder cases before the ombudsman,” he said.

Estrada pointed out that both the ICC and the Makati parking building involving Binay were constructed by Hilmarc’s.

Sen. Francis Escudero echoed the statements of Estrada in challenging the Blue Ribbon committee to conduct a similar probe into the alleged involvement of Drilon.

He said Guingona should show the same enthusiasm in probing the overpriced issue in Iloilo in the same manner the committee launched the inquiries into the pork barrel controversy and recently, the Makati City Hall Building 2.

“I agree that it should also be heard and in the same zealous manner,” Escudero said in Filipino in a radio interview.

“If somebody files a resolution then why not? The members of the minority – Senator JV’s brother is the one who issued the challenge, then he should file (the resolution),” Escudero added, referring to Jinggoy.

Apart from Ejercito, the Vice President’s daughter, Sen. Nancy Binay, can also seek the probe, he said. – With Christina Mendez