CLARK FREEPORT — Top officials of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, its subsidiary Clark Development Corp., and the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources are facing graft and administrative charges before the Office of the Ombudsman for insisting on the closure of the lone-engineered sanitary landfill in Capas, Tarlac.
In a complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman by Metro Clark Waste Management Corp. (MCWMC), BCDA president and CEO Joshua “Jake” M. Bingcang, BCDA chairman Delfin N. Lorenzana, CDC president and CEO Atty. Agnes VST Devanadera, DENR director Jacqueline A. Caancan, and BCDA OIC Gizela Z. Kalalo were charged for “grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of service”.
The issuance of a preventive suspension order against the named public officials was also sought of the Ombudsman by the MCWMC so that documents in possession of their respective offices that may be used as evidence in these cases may not be tampered or destroyed and to protect the witnesses who want to come forward to support the graft cases against the named public officials.
The Ombudsman case stems from the actions of Lorenzana, Bingcang, Devanadera, and Kalalo in cutting short the 50-year lease of MCWMC which is set to expire in the year 2049 pursuant to RA 7652 (Investors’ Lease Act) and Executive Order (EO) No. 429, series of 1997, to October 2024, covering the 100-hectare property which is the site of the Kalangitan Sanitary Landfill.
The BCDA was allegedly favoring at least 10 waste management companies to undertake the waste management and disposal of more than 150 local government units affecting millions of residents.
The actuations of Lorenzana, Bingcang, Kalalo, and Devanadera in sending letters and public notices to DENR informing it of the alleged impending closure of the sanitary landfill was cited as improper.
“Their direct communication to inform the LGUs of their chosen waste management companies had induced DENR Director Caancan to actually choose and recommend to the affected LGUs, without any public bidding, the 10 waste management companies to undertake the LGUs’ waste disposal and management which are currently being undertaken by MCWMC” read the complaint filed against the officials.
This apparently caused undue injury to MCWMC through “manifest partiality and evident bad faith” of the said public officers.
The complaint furthered: “The actions of the respondents are clearly unreasonable, unfair, and oppressive against the German consortium now represented by complainant MCWM that after being encouraged or invited to avail itself of the provisions of RA7652 and EO 429, series of 1997 and invested almost $7 million, the respondent-officials of BCDA and CDC who were not even present at the time of the signing of the contract regarding the lease of the 100-hectare property between CDC and MCWMC, will just cut short the lease term thereof.”
“The above actuations of respondents are likewise discriminatory as complainant MCWMC is deliberately excluded from the list provided by the respondents to the LGUs that can undertake their waste disposal problems,” it said.
MCWMC expects the Office of the Ombudsman to conduct preliminary investigation and hearings next week. Punto News Team
