Diokno to accuser: Go ahead, sue me

MANILA, Philippines — Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno yesterday challenged House of Representatives Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. to file a criminal complaint against him in connection with the alleged multibillion-peso flood control scam under the Duterte administration. “He should file a case with the Office of the Ombudsman so that I can explain,” Diokno told ABS-CBN News Channel.

He reiterated his denials of Andaya’s accusation of favoring Sorsogon, the province of his in-laws, in the allocation of billions in infrastructure and flood control funds in the annual budget.

The budget chief also denied colluding with a high-ranking official of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in such allocation and in the award of contracts to Aremar Construction where his son-in-law, Romeo Sicat Jr., is a shareholder, and its alleged dummy contractors.

Sicat is married to Diokno’s daughter Charlotte Justine. He is a son of Sorsogon Vice Gov. Ester Hamor, whose husband, Edward, is the mayor of Casiguran town. The mayor has admitted being an Aremar incorporator.

“I have nothing to do with the awarding of projects and the choice of contractors. That’s the job of the DPWH. I do not know CT Leoncio from Adam and I only heard of Aremar during the House Question Hour (on the budget last Dec. 11),” Diokno said.

Andaya has claimed that Bulacan-based CT Leoncio has cornered large contracts in Sorsogon and is supposedly Diokno’s favored contractor.

CT Leoncio has also entered into joint venture arrangements with Aremar for some projects.

The House leader has announced plans to file a plunder complaint against Aremar for allegedly receiving more than P70 million in kickbacks for DPWH contracts awarded to other contractors. 

Andaya said his proof consists of at least five bank deposit slips showing the fund transfers.

Diokno insisted that he is not related to Mayor Hamor. 

Andaya has accused the budget secretary of “intellectual dishonesty” for such assertion, saying he is related to Hamor because the mayor is the stepfather of Diokno’s son-in-law Sicat Jr., who is the son of Vice Gov. Hamor from a previous marriage.

The House leader said an unnamed DPWH official had told district engineers in Sorsogon and other parts of Bicol to process flood control projects and submit them to the central office in Manila without passing through the regional office.

 “Whoever is downloading these instructions to the DPWH district engineers is possibly the one in cahoots with the budget chief. These flood control projects submitted by the district engineers are then used to come up with a list of projects for approval by Secretary Diokno. That is why his defense is that the request came from the DPWH,” Andaya said.

He expressed doubts if Public Works Secretary Mark Villar was “in the loop on this modus operandi.”

Diokno said it was the DPWH that came up with the listing of projects.

“Our job is to give them the budget ceiling. It is the DPWH that listed the projects and awarded the contracts through open and competitive bidding,” he said.

He said assuming Andaya’s claim that Aremar received commissions were true, he had nothing to do with such payments.  

Rody still backs Diokno

President Duterte has reiterated his support for Diokno amid clamor from House members that he be fired. 

The rift between Diokno and several lawmakers led to the reenactment of the national budget.

Duterte has cleared Diokno of allegation that he made insertions in the proposed budget, presidential spokesman and chief legal adviser Salvador Panelo said yesterday.               

“How can one accuse somebody of insertion when he was the one who made the budget,” Panelo quoted the President as saying.

Panelo pointed out that there was no such thing as insertion in the budget.

“There is no insertion, only amendments. When you say insertion, that’s illegal,” he said.

Panelo also chided Andaya for accusing the budget chief of favoring his in-laws to corner government infrastructure projects.  With Edith Regalado