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A FORMER
party-list lawmaker has urged the House of
Representatives to investigate the allegedly anomalous
contract involving a surrendered Marcos asset that the
Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and a
private contractor had entered into in 2003.
“A
congressional inquiry is urgently needed to determine if
the PCGG has deprived the government of P405 million,
because of the anomalous contract based on a 2033 PCGG
resolution,” former party-list congresswoman Loreta Ann
Rosales of Akbayan said.
Rosales
was referring to PCGG Resolution 2003-04-88, which
authorized Mid-Pasig Land, a company that in 1986 was
sequestered from Jose Yao Campos, a Marcos crony, to
enter into a four-year contract of lease with Pasig
Printing Corp.
The
lease contract was signed by former PCGG commissioner
William Dichoso and Mid-Pasig Land chairman and
president Ernesto Jalandoni on April 30, 2003.
The PCGG
resolution authorized Jalandoni to sign the cease
contract approved by the Mid-Pasig Land board of
directors during its April 29, 2003, meeting, involving
a portion of the land owned by the corporation in
barangay Ugong,
Pasig City.
This
portion of
Mid-Pasig Land
is popularly known as the Metrowalk Complex, which used
to be a place for carnivals in the 1990s.
The
5,000-square-meter property was leased at P750,000 a
month.
The
contract of lease was reportedly entered into on May 9,
2003, between Mid-Pasig Land and Pasig Printing Corp.
Under
the contract, Pasig Printing was supposed to occupy only
5,000 square meters, but the company actually used all
of the 5-hectare property, Rosales said
Thus,
she said, Pasig Printing should pay the government P7.5
million a month, instead of P750,000.
“What
adds insult to injury is the fact that PCGG Chairman
Camilo Sabio, who is currently under investigation by
the Ombudsman, has been under fire with the other
commissioners since last year because of the proposed
property-management agreement between Optimus Property
Holdings Corp. and the sequestered Mid-Pasig Land
Development Corp. that would authorize Optimus to manage
another 18.5 hectares for development over 15 years. The
ongoing transactions were exposed by the media at the
time the ZTE NBN deal was being investigated in the
Senate,” she added.
“We
cannot wait any longer. The contract was supposed to
have ended last year, but could still be ongoing unless
an immediate investigation is undertaken by both
Congress and the Commission on Audit. For this reason,
Akbayan will file a resolution, along with other
reform-oriented members of the House, to investigate
this anomalous transaction before the House Committee on
Good Government. This is urgent because all these
corrupt practices are contributing to the further
impoverishment of our people in this period of rising
inflation and rice crisis,” Rosales said. |
