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NEWLY
appointed Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS)
administrator Diosdado Jose Allado yesterday filed a
complaint against his predecessor for alleged violation
of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt
Practices Act.
In his
complaint submitted to Justice Undersecretary Felix
Exconde, Allado accused former MWSS administrator
Lorenzo Jamora of illegally using MWSS funds to pay for
bonds issued by the Home Guaranty Corp. (HGC) and
National Power Corp. (Napocor) in separate occasions
last year. The amount involved in the transactions
totaled P791.399,362.76.
Allado
claimed that Jamora terminated the agency’s time
deposits to pay for the bonds. The deposits were
classified as restricted cash of the MWSS since they
were intended for the payment of MWSS loans to the Japan
Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).
“The
MWSS board of trustees did not authorize the use of the
restricted cash for the purchase of HGC debenture bonds
or Napocor bonds or for any other purpose other than
what the funds are restricted for,” the MWSS
administrator said in the complaint.
He said
after that the MWSS board discovered transactions, it
immediately passed a resolution “disavowing” the
unauthorized use of restricted funds that needed prior
board approval and confirmation by the Department of
Finance.
The
board gave Allado the go signal to conduct an
investigation and to file appropriate charges against
Jamora.
Allado
said the transactions were grossly disadvantageous to
the MWSS and to the government in general.
It noted
that HGC bonds were purchased in the secondary market at
a premium price, thus resulting in an immediate loss of
MWSS’s restricted funds in the amount of P19,456,624.81.
Allado
said Jamora allowed the purchase of the HGC debenture
bonds from Damar Financing Corp. on April 13, 2007, at a
price higher than their face value.
He said
the bonds’ face value were P259,508,367.09 for the batch
that will mature on September 6, 2008, and
P54,573,241.46 for another that will mature on February
19, 2009.
Allado
said his predecessor purchased the bonds in the amount
of P274,989,892.29 and P58,557,413.07, respectively,
resulting in an immediate loss of P19,456,624.81 against
the restricted funds.
In the
case of the Napocor bonds, the former MWSS administrator
paid a premium of P225,976,888.70 against a face value
of P213,790,000, according to Allado. The transaction is
grossly disadvantageous to the MWSS because it had to
pay P12,186,888.70 more for the bonds, he said.
On May
11, 2007, Jamora also purchased Napocor bonds in the
amounts of P87,394,215.38 that will mature on March 20,
2011, and P144,480,953.32 that will mature on November
29, 2012.
Allado
explained that the net interest to be gained from the
purchase of the HGC bonds is P14.41 million against a
net interest of P20.73 million if the money were
deposited with the Development Bank of the Philippines
that gives an interest rate of 5.25 percent a year for
long-term placements.
He also
said net interest to be gained from the purchase of the
Napocor bonds is P80.83 million against P85.94 million
if the funds were placed in government securities. That
was a difference of P5.11 million.
“…The
immediate loss to the MWSS is the reduction in its
restricted cash in the amount of P31,643,513.51 million,
and the projected loss is P11.434,726 million,” Allado
said. He did not elaborate.
Allado
noted the Napocor bonds are nontradable and should be
held to maturity.
He wants
the DOJ to hold Jamora liable for corruption and for
causing undue injury to the government by giving a
private party unwarranted benefits and for entering, on
behalf of the government, a transaction “manifestly and
grossly disadvantageous to the same.” |
