BY PRINCE GOLEZ, Manila Reporter and GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
ILOILO City – “I have never stolen a single centavo from public funds,” declared Bayan Muna’s Rep. Neri Colmenares as he decried the “harassment case” filed by an organization called the Movement for People Empowerment (MPE) at the Office of the Ombudsman here.
A critic of President Benigno Aquino III, Colmenares accused Malacañang of trying to discredit the opposition “instead of heeding the call of the people to investigate even administration allies.”
The case against Colmenares is a graft complaint on the supposed overprice of the two-classroom building in Barangay Dela Peña Primary School in Barotac Viejo, Iloilo.
The funds came from the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), admitted Colmenares, but he said he is ready to prove that the charge is false and malicious.
The Supreme Court has declared DAP unconstitutional.
“This project was requested from my office by Barotac Viejo’s Mayor Niel Tupas III and the municipality was the one that implemented it,” said Colmenares, senior deputy minority leader.
“Nag-endorse ako sa Department of Budget and Management (DBM). Sabi ko sa kanila, okay ba ito? Sabi nila, okay,” he told Panay News.
DBM funded the project directly through the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
“Based on the reports sent to my office, it was completed last February and like in other projects, not a single centavo was given or passed through me,” Colmenares said.
MPE based in Iloilo City accused Colmenares of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act over what it claimed to be a substandard school building.
In its complaint with the Ombudsman Iloilo Field Office at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, MPE claimed that for a two-room school building that is worth a million pesos only, Colmenares budgeted it with P1.8 million.
Reached for his comment yesterday, Jory Porquia of Bayan Muna in Iloilo said the DPWH Engineering District in Barotac Viejo, Iloilo under Engr. George Suy should do the explaining.
“Engr. Suy has to answer kon ano gid ang natabo. Kon may ara kumpleto nga dokumento, kon may bidding nga natabu and what happened to the implementation,” said Porquia.
The project did not pass through the regional office of Bayan Muna in Iloilo, he stressed.
Porquia believes the filing of the case aims to discredit Bayan Muna.
Suy could not be reached for comment as of press time.
CHALLENGE TO MALACAÑANG
The congressman said he is willing to undergo a lifestyle check if only to prove that he is not corrupt.
“Malacañang should desist from attempting to destroy my credibility,” Colmenares said.
He challenged Malacañang to open to the public all the projects of departments and agencies under the President and all members of Congress who endorsed projects thru the DAP.
He also urged all members of Congress to open their bank accounts for public scrutiny and for them to undergo a lifestyle check.
Another Bayan Muna House representative, Carlos Zarate, said the “made-up” case is a “clear harassment act ex cathedra and we fear that similar cases will be filed against members of the Makabayan bloc as the hearings on the impeachment cases against President Benigno Aquino III draw near.”
“As in the past, this renewed harassment against us, particularly against our colleague, Rep. Colmenares, will not cow or deter us from continuing our advocacies. On the contrary, it will only embolden us to continue with our exposé and opposition on the corrupt and anti-people policies of this administration,” said Zarate.
Meanwhile, MPE identified the contractor involved in Colmenares’ school building project as Macro-Asia with a certain Engr. Maido together with Porquia.
The actual construction started in October 2013 and was completed on February 2014 but the complainant said that during their actual inspection in coordination with structural and civil engineers, “cracks were prominently seen in the walls of the two classrooms, and the comfort rooms have defective lavatories and some inside roofing were even unfinished.”
Worse, the complainants added, there were no filling materials used for the foundation of the said building that is located on a sloped and hilly portion of the school compound.
‘FLIMSY ALIBI’
MPE coordinator Tomas Calderon dismissed Colmenares’ lifestyle check challenge as a mere palusot (alibi) to divert public attention to the real issue.
It’s the same strategy used by senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Jinggoy Estrada and even former president and now Manila mayor Joseph Estrada, Calderon said.
Revilla and Estrada face plunder and corruption charges before the Ombudsman over the alleged pork barrel scam.
“Gasgas na ang palusot at diskarte nila (It’s a worn-out strategy of) Cong. Colmenares at ng Bayan Muna,” according to Calderon.
Instead of acting like “infallible demigods” and “archaic demagogues”, Colmenares and Bayan Muna should “answer their malfeasance and wrongdoings,” said Calderon.
MAYOR’S CALL
For his part, Barotac Viejo’s Mayor Niel Tupas III said he will task his municipal engineer and the concerned district engineering of DPWH Region 6 to review the school building project.
Tupas is a civil engineer by profession. He said the students’ welfare is his primary concern but declined to further comment on the allegation that the project is substandard.
The school building is yet to be formally turned over to the local government of Barotac Viejo but students have been using it already since June, Panay News learned./PN
