Thus, said the Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) as it vowed to oppose before the Commission on Appointments (CA) President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s choice of Atty. Arthur P. Tugade as Transportation secretary in his cabinet.
On Friday, Ruperto Cruz, PGKM chair, said Tugade’s track record as president/CEO of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) speaks volumes of his kind of lead ership which could be detrimental to the country if his appointment is confirmed.
“Change is coming, but what change is going to come if Tugade is at the helm of the Department of Transportation?” asked Cruz.
The PGKM is opposing Tugade’s appointment primarily on the grounds of “lack of transparency” because the lease agreement (LA) contracts which he signed with Clark Freeport locators are kept secret from public scrutiny, Cruz said.
To ensure that no one can peruse over their contents, Tugade allowed the insertion of a “confidentiality clause” in the contracts’ provisions, he noted. “What is so secret about a contract which binds the government and affects public welfare?” he asked.
Cruz expressed fears that Tugade’s practice of “sub-rosa contracts” at Clark will be made “core policy” at the DOTC once he heads the department.
“As it is, the DOTC is already plagued with hidden contracts in its operations of the MRT and LRT, in LTO. How much worse will it be with Tugade, given his Clark practice,” Cruz said.
At the same time, “Tugade will make a negation of Duterte’s express vow to implement through executive order the Freedom of Information in the executive department,” he added.
Cruz said up to now, despite verbal assurances from CDC executives, no LA contract on controversial projects in Clark has ever been made public.
Among these, Cruz said are: the Capilion Corp. Pte. Ltd. project located at the main entrance to the Clark Freeport here, the Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. dealership and service center also at the main entrance to the Freeport; Linaheim Corp. owned by Customs Commissioner Bert Lina, businesswoman Nora Bitong and former Pagcor chair Efraim Genuino.
“Ala lang public consultation, ala lang public hearing, eya level ing playing field (There is no public consultation, there is no public hearing, there is no level playing field),” Cruz lamented. “Therefore to the great disadvantage of both the government and the people.”
The aforementioned projects, Cruz said, “comprise a blatant violation of the spirit and intent of the Bases Conversion and Development Act (RA 7227) which mandated Clark as export-oriented, labor-intensive, aviation-based economic zone to spur the parallel development of the contiguous communities adversely affected by the Mount Pinatubo eruptions and the dismantling of the US bases.”
“Instead of complementing, Clark competed with the surrounding communities. And with its special tax privileges, demolished the economic opportunities for the latter,” he added.
‘Dubious’
Cruz specifically cited the Capillion and Honda projects as “dubious”
“Nung freeport ya yan, dapat maka bakud yang matas yan at selyadu ya (If it’s a freeport, it should be enclosed with a high fence and sealed). It’s an open door to smuggling,” Cruz pointed out.
“The Capilion project is just another duty-free shop which should be limited only to the airport,” he said. “We can sense yet another channel for smuggling there.”
The Honda locator, being both showroom and service center, would have “advantage over competitors” with duty-free privileges of its imported car parts and supplies, Cruz said.
Council reso The PGKM also cited an Angeles City council resolution “expressing vehement opposition” to the location Capilion project as it would impact negatively on the traffic condition at the main entry to the Clark Freeport and its immediate environment.
Tugade and the CDC simply ignored the resolution, he said.
Cruz said since August last year, the CDC has been promising to come up with a traffic impact assessment study but until now no traffic study has been made public other than the purported traffic study published by the media which they got from their news sources.
There is also the case of the owners of demolished stalls along Fields Avenue extension against the CDC which is now lodged before the court, Cruz said. This is also a case in point why Tugade’s appointment should be deferred, he said.
As CDC president, Tugade allegedly ordered the demolition of the commercial stalls to the detriment of local businessmen.
The PGKM vowed to stand before the CA to block Tugade’s appointment.
Second time
If it will push through, this will be the second time that the PGKM would stand at the CA.
In 1993, the PGKM opposed the promotion to brigadier general of Col. Jovenar Reambillo of the Clark Air Base Command of the Philippine Air Force.
Reambillo was scored for his alleged “non-Air Force activities that encroached on private business” and was thrice bypassed by the CA.
