|
AN
environmental group and a private company on Wednesday
questioned the impending appointment of Aksiyon
Demokratiko Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay as head of the
Committee on Appropriations for his alleged involvement
in a questionable and suspicious $6-million air
pollution monitoring project.
Clemente
Bautista of the Kalikasan People’s Network for the
Environment called on House leaders to take a second
look at Lagman’s deal, which allegedly cost the
government millions of dollars.
Bautista
said the next chairman who will head the Committee on
Appropriations should be beyond suspicion because he
will handle huge government funds.
According to Bautista, Lagman was involved in the
$6-million air pollution monitoring project between the
Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
and ETI-Imach (Guam-based Emission Technology Inc. and
its local partner Industromach), a private joint
venture, where Lagman allegedly received amounts of
$60,000, $63,255, $100,000, $40,000 and another $100,000
on various dates from 2002 to 2003, representing his
initial lawyer’s fees, success fee for the awarding of
the contract and the last three amounts as partial
payment for marketing expenses, respectively.
Bautista
said that despite Lagman’s election to the House of
Representatives in 2004, he continued to personally
attend meetings related to the project in 2005, even
stating that it was his intention to mediate between ETI
and the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) on the
financial issues of the contract.
He said
that Lagman further requested the EMB to convey his
concern to the DENR top management to pay what is due
ETI before the budget hearing started in October 2005.
House
leaders, meanwhile, took the cudgels for Lakas Rep. Juan
Miguel Arroyo of Pampanga and Kabalikat ng Malayang
Pilipino Rep. Ignacio Arroyo of Negros Occidental, who
were both criticized for accepting juicy posts at the
House of Representatives.
In a
joint statement, House Majority Leader Arthur Defensor
and Senior Deputy Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II
said the Arroyos are qualified for their posts and
should be allowed to discharge their duties instead of
prejudging them.
Juan
Miguel, oldest son of President Arroyo, and Ignacio, the
President’s brother-in-law, have been appointed as
chairmen of the Committee on Energy and Committee on
Environment and Natural Resources, respectively.
Defensor
said the appointments of the Arroyos were part of the
legislative discretion of the House majority, which
believes that both have the knowledge and political
savvy to ably discharge their tasks.
“They
are senior members. And when you talk of experience, we
are not talking of experience in the field as executive
of the Department of Energy, for instance. We are
talking of legislative experience insofar as committee
work is concerned,” said Defensor.
He said
the delicadeza issue raised by some sectors is
not surprising, but he reminded them that the committees
meet as a collegial body, and whatever outputs or
recommended legislation would still have to pass in
House in plenary session.
Defensor
admonished the critics for conveniently ignoring that
there is a separation of powers between the three
branches of government.
“When it
comes to the implementation of energy policies, like the
sale or disposal of assets related to energy projects
that may amount to billions of pesos, the House
committee on energy does not, in any way, participate in
the bidding process of these assets, and does not
participate in the deliberation of committees, which
were created to dispose of assets, or committees created
to formulate policies related to the disposal of
acquisition of assets,” said Defensor.
Defensor
admitted, though, that while the Arroyos’ relationship
to the President may have been one of the factors that
influenced Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. in recommending
their election as committee chairmen, he strongly
believed that this was not the only reason for their
appointment. |
