Group laments slow probe into MCIAA ‘anomalies’

CEBU, Philippines - The complainants against 11 airport officials allegedly involved in irregular transactions during the 12th ASEAN Summit in 2007 are now asking officials of the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas what took them so long to act on the complaint.

Names of the airport officials are withheld while complainants also asked for anonymity to save them from possible reprisal.

An undated complaint affidavit and annexes of “substantial documentary evidence” attached to it was sent by the complainants to Deputy Ombudsman for the Visays Pelagio Apostol August 23, 2013 through postal service.

The complainants claimed they were informed that the 11 officials were already served notice by the anti-graft body about the complaint.

However, the group is disappointed of the very slow-paced investigation despite having provided all the necessary documentary evidence.

The group believes it has a very strong case supported with overwhelming documentary evidences and all applicable provisions of existing laws and government regulations.

“May be they were very busy or pre-occupied by the many complaints they are handling in the entire Visayas Region or maybe they took it for granted because the complaint was anonymous or maybe because someone meddled on it,” said the group in a letter sent to The FREEMAN.

The group wants to know if the respondents have filed their respective answers to the Ombudsman and they are “really dead serious to know the verdict” of their complaint.

“The people involved have done so much damage to the resources of our government especially the MCIAA,” the complainants claimed.

They lamented that while engineering personnel of Lapu-Lapu City and Mandaue City were convicted administratively and criminally on the lamp post scandal during the 12th ASEAN Summit, the group of 11 airport officials was never indicted for alleged railroading of the awards of 13 projects to single contractor without bidding.

The same group of respondents also awarded the contract of P217 million passenger boarding bridges to unqualified contractors; P178 million expansion of terminal building which was never completed until today; P69 million chillers to contractors with expired tax clearance; and the P17 million water cooling system of centralized air-conditioning system to a contractor through negotiated procurement.

“Please give justice to the engineers of Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue City who were in a similar situation by making this group of respondents held accountable of their wrong doings,” read the letter addressed to Apostol.

They added that much money will be saved from the government if this group of respondents will be taken away from the positions they are temporarily holding.

They further alleged that some of the respondents are involved in the alleged buy-out of the P820 million replication project of Mactan Air Base which is now the subject of factual investigation by the MCIAA Board. (FREEMAN)