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When it
comes to fighting corruption and upholding transparency
and accountability, it’s the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (DENR) that’s way ahead of other
government agencies.
That’s
the verdict from the World Bank, which conducted early
this year a review of the DENR’s National Program
Support for Environment and Natural Resources to
ascertain how the agency has complied with procurement
reforms initiated by the Government Policy Procurement
Board.
The
World Bank review team found the DENR to have the
highest rating of compliance among six agencies. It
cited the agency in five areas: adoption of
anticorruption and transparency measures, creation of an
internal audit service, creation of a procurement unit,
inclusion of civil-society representatives in bids and
awards committees and posting of procurement
opportunities and contract awards on the government
online site.
The
World Bank specifically cited the DENR for the quality
of notices and related documents published, registration
of all suppliers or bidders, online downloading of bid
documents, identification of participating bidders,
contract awards posted and average period of posting
awards notices from closing date.
Understandably, Environment Secretary Lito Atienza is
glad that his department has been cited by the World
Bank as the most transparent and accountable government
agency in the procurement of goods and services.
But the
Environment secretary says that while internal reforms
at the central level are a good start, he wants the
reforms to filter down to the bureaus and field offices.
To
demonstrate his resolve to stop corruption in his
department, Atienza recently canceled a scheduled
bidding for the development of a prime real-estate
government property in
Fort
Bonifacio.
In stopping the bidding administered by the National
Mapping and Resource Information Authority, an agency
attached to the DENR, Atienza said the property was
grossly underpriced and the proposed land use was
questionable.
Recall
that environmentalists registered their strong
opposition to the appointment of Atienza as DENR
secretary early on. But it looks like he is proving his
critics wrong by taking firm steps to curb corruption.
We can only hope he succeeds in his job, because the
environment is too important to be left in the hands of
incompetent and crooked bureaucrats.
Bitter
family feud
When a
family-owned corporation succeeds in the business but
the family parts ways later on, expect the legal dispute
to be prolonged and bitter; as what’s happening in the
case of Gonzalo Laboratories, makers of Green Cross
rubbing alcohol and Zonrox bleach.
The
company was started in 1952 by Co Ay Tian, an immigrant
from China, with a starting capital of only P17,000. He
named the firm for his eldest son, Gonzalo, according to
Chinese custom, emphasizing that it was family-owned and
not his alone. Business picked up in the 1960s and
1970s, and Gonzalo was joined by his siblings in running
the company. In 1971 Gonzalo Laboratories was
incorporated, using the assets of Gonzalo Laboratories
as the principal source of funding for the new company.
In December 1986 Gonzalo Co sold his 17.5-percent shares
of the family corporation stocks to his siblings. The
sale was worth P87,400 covered by a deed of absolute
sale signed on December 19, 1986, in Parañaque, Metro
Manila. That same month, the company reported to the
Securities and Exchange Commission the shareholdings as
follows: Anthony Co, 18.2 percent; Ang Si, 18.2 percent;
Joseph Co, 21.2 percent; Mary Co, 6 percent; Peter Co,
21.2 percent; and Co Ay Tian, 15.2 percent. In 1989
Gonzalo Laboratories was renamed “Green Cross Inc.”
In
August 2006, however, Gonzalo Co claimed he owned the
company 100 percent and merely entrusted the shares to
his siblings under the principle of “implied trust.” In
December that same year he filed a sworn affidavit with
the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Green Cross Inc.
for allegedly defrauding him of his shares of stock.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales directed the National
Bureau of Investigation to conduct an investigation. In
January this year the DOJ issued a resolution charging
the owners of Green Cross with estafa and recommending
further investigation of the allegations. The DOJ,
however, sided with Green Cross Inc., saying Gonzalo Co
effectively sold his shares to the family corporation
and there was neither deceit nor moral duress involved.
Talk is
rife that the DOJ might probe possible money laundering
by the Co family following the filing of estafa charges
against them. But the lawyers of the family claim the
DOJ cannot start a probe of money laundering charges
unless estafa has been proved. This, it is feared, would
only leave the Co family open to harassment.
But the
main issue here is whether Gonzalo Co really owns Green
Cross Inc. as he claims. Without any proof of ownership,
such as stock certificates, his legal battle would be
something worth watching.
E-mail: ernhil@yahoo.com |
