Ombudsman reopening 2019 SEA Games probe

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman is reopening its investigation into the alleged irregularities surrounding the country’s hosting of the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla confirmed yesterday.

The move comes as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is conducting a separate probe into the allegedly anomalous construction of the New Clark City Sports Complex in Tarlac, which was built for the biennial sporting event.

Asked if the ombudsman would take another look at the controversy – especially after previous complaints against then-Bases Conversion and Development Authority chief and current Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon were dismissed – Remulla said that the review is already underway.

“That’s a very good question because just this morning I asked my staff to get the whole file from 2021 to see and to look at the possible violations of law,” Remulla told reporters. “We’re opening it up again.”

When pressed on whether Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano – who chaired the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC), a private foundation established to organize the event – would be summoned for the reopened investigation, Remulla said his office is taking it one step at a time.

“There’s a time for everything. We’ll look into what the Office of the Ombudsman did in 2021, because there is no double jeopardy there – no one was charged there. So, we’ll see,” he said.

The ombudsman’s renewed interest in the 2019 SEA Games follows NBI Director Melvin Matibag’s announcement that the bureau is scrutinizing the financial transactions tied to the sports complex.

The NBI’s investigation centers on a joint venture agreement between the BCDA and Malaysian firm MTD Capital Berhad for the development of New Clark City Phase 1A.

Matibag earlier noted that the probe is focusing on the lack of public bidding, massive unliquidated funds and the P10 billion given to the foreign company, alongside the controversial P50-million cauldron.

In 2019, the budget for the sporting event faced heavy scrutiny during Senate plenary deliberations after it was discovered that an initial P7.5 billion was lodged in the Department of Foreign Affairs’ budget, an agency headed by Cayetano at the time.

The funds were later reduced to P5 billion and transferred to the Philippine Sports Commission, though PHISGOC eventually received P1.5 billion in public funds as “financial assistance.”

The NBI’s probe has fueled political tension in the Senate.

Cayetano and his sister, Sen. Pia Cayetano, have slammed the NBI chief’s announcement as an attempt to pressure and intimidate senators amid the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Matibag yesterday denied that the NBI investigation was linked to Duterte’s ongoing impeachment trial.

He said they initiated the investigation after they received documents and other information regarding PHISGOC, and noted allegations that the foundation failed to liquidate the P2.2 billion it received from the government for the games.

“There’s no bidding, there’s no audit by the COA (Commission on Audit), there were (alleged) overpricing,” the NBI director said.

Matibag denied that the probe is targeting Cayetano, whom he said does not appear as an officer of the foundation in official documents.

Cayetano was publicly identified as PHISGOC’s chairman during the SEA Games.

Flood scandal, too

Cayetano on Thursday challenged the Senate to investigate the multibillion-peso flood control program alongside the NBI’s 2019 SEA Games probe, saying all inquiries should proceed without fear or favoritism.

Speaking during a livestream, Cayetano said he fully supports the NBI’s investigation.

“Investigate the 2019 Southeast Asian Games thoroughly. Give everything,” he said.?

“We will totally support the investigation,” he said. “When I say ‘we,’ I mean myself and I encourage all Filipinos to support that investigation.”?

He, however, challenged the Senate Blue Ribbon committee to conduct a parallel inquiry into the government’s flood control projects.

“Then my colleagues in the minority and I will investigate the flood control program. Deal?” Cayetano said.

“Malacañang said their secretary (Dizon) has already been investigated, but I have not. That’s fine. Let’s investigate everyone,” Cayetano said. “But ‘flood control’ should not be treated as a bad word. The bad word is ‘cover-up.’”

The Office of the Ombudsman under Samuel Martires had dismissed the charges against Dizon in December 2021, at the height of the COVID lockdowns. Dizon served as Duterte’s “testing czar” for COVID-19.

‘Relax’

Senate Blue Ribbon chairman Sen. Erwin Tulfo yesterday said Cayetano should wait for the committee to formally resume its investigation into the flood control controversy, saying the next inquiry will focus on new evidence rather than issues already pending before the courts.

“We will have an investigation. Tell him to just wait because the Blue Ribbon committee has not yet been officially convened,” Tulfo said over dzMM.

He explained that the committee has yet to organize under the 20th Congress, including the appointment of a vice chairman and minority members, adding that the previous gathering was only an organizational meeting.

Tulfo said the committee is expected to formally convene after President Marcos’ State of the Nation Address on July 27, after which invitations for the flood control inquiry would be issued.

“We will investigate the flood control issue. Tell him (Cayetano) to relax. There’s no need to get too worked up,” he said.

Tulfo said the new inquiry would concentrate on allegations and personalities that have not yet been covered by previous investigations.

NBI to summon organizers

The NBI will issue subpoenas to board directors of PHISGOC over alleged irregularities of the 2019 SEA Games, but the list does not include Cayetano.

Officials from PHISGOC set to be called on July 24 include chief operating officer Ramon Suzara, currently the president of the Asian Volleyball Confederation; chief financial officer Dexter Estacio; corporate secretary Monica Ann Mitra and board members Donaldo Caringal, Tomas Carrasco Jr. and John Lester Buenconsejo.

These were their positions, according to PHISGOC’s general information sheets (GIS) for 2020 and 2021, issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with copies provided by the NBI to reporters yesterday.

In PHISGOC’s GIS for 2019, though, Suzara was listed as president, Estacio as chief financial officer and Buenconsejo as corporate secretary. Caringal, Carrasco and Mitra served as board members.

Three other people were part of PHISGOC’s board only in 2019: John Patrick Gregorio, now the head of the Philippine Sports Commission; Victorico Vargas, president and chief executive officer of MediaQuest Holdings Inc., and Edgar Picson, a veteran sportscaster who died in 2023.

The STAR asked Matibag if Gregorio and Vargas would be called next week, but received no response.

Notably, PHISGOC’s corporate documents did not include Cayetano, who chaired the private foundation starting in 2017, when he was still foreign affairs chief, and continued through his tenure as House speaker from 2019 to 2020.

“I just noticed something here. It’s surprising because when we said we would be investigating this (2019 SEA Games), why did Senator Cayetano react that way when his name is not here?” Matibag said.

“This is one of our questions. On Monday, we will subpoena Suzara and others to explain what the role of Senator Cayetano is, because, officially, based on SEC records, his name does not appear in the documents,” he said.

Matibag said the Senate minority leader “should not be worried” if ever there was corruption during the 2019 SEA Games because his name was excluded from the documents, but he emphasized there’s a caveat to that.

“The big question is why did he go to the public as its chairman? Maybe this needs an answer,” the NBI chief said.

Besides the GIS, Matibag already has copies of audited financial statements from the biennial sporting event, including P650 million in rental costs and P300 million in consultancy fees.

Matibag said the NBI will ask for more documents from subpoenaed PHISGOC officials. — Mark Ernest Villeza, EJ Macababbad, Janvic Mateo