CLARK FREEPORT – Had presidential uncle Jose “Peping” Cojuangco lobbied for the appointment of presidential cousin Emigdio “Dino” Tanjuatco as head of Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) so as to give way to a P500-million sports complex project here?
Cojuangco, younger brother of the late Pres. Corazon “Cory” Aquino, was seen here over a week ago in an area near this freeport’s exit gate in Mabalacat City, reportedly to inspect a site for a huge sports complex.
A reliable source who asked not to be named for lack of authority to give out details on the matter said Cojuangco was with Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chair Richard Garcia during the inspection. Business leaders in cities and towns around Clark were recently surprised by Pres. Aquino’s appointment of Tanjuatco as replacement for long-time CIAC head Victor Jose Luciano this late in his administration.
Tanjuatco is a second cousin of the President on the maternal side of Cory Aquino. Local leaders said they were perplexed by the unexpected change in CIAC leadership at this time in the Aquino government which ends in 2016.
Saying they had no objection to this development, they also felt intrigued by the qualifications of Tanjuatco who never had any background in aviation.
Remollo
“The sports complex would be similar to the so-called Star sports center proposed by former Clark Development Corp. (CDC) President Felipe Remollo who had wanted the site somewhere near the Bamban River in the Sacobia area which Peping did not want,” the source said.
He also said some P500 million would initially be available for the project, but he could not give further details on this.
He said that Cojuangco wanted a site in the vicinity of the park near Clark’s exit to Mabalacat City and that some 100 hectares are being eyed for the sports project, although not necessarily contiguous. Cojuangco is president of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) which is a private, non-governmental organization composed of all National Sports Associations (NSA) in the Philippines.
The POC is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as having the sole authority for representation of the Philippines in the Olympic Games, the Asian Games, the Southeast Asian Games and other multi-event competitions.
While the POC is financially independent and does not receive any subsidy from government, its member NSAs receive some financial assistance from the government’s Philippine Sports Commission. The POC supports its own activities with funds generated from sponsorships, licensing fees on the use of the Olympic marks, IOC subsidy and proceeds from special projects and donations.
While no official announcement on the sports project has been made, militants are expected to raise some questions on the participation of Peping Cojuangco and Tanjuatco, both presidential relatives, in it. Danding Earlier, the partylist group Anakpawis Partylist lambasted the planned MRT 7 project initiated by yet another presidential uncle, business tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco to link San Juan del Monte City in Bulacan to Metro Manila.
Anakpawis said the project would be a “of brazen plunder of public funds amounting to about P62.7-billion or $1.44-billion.” It noted that the President , as board chairman of the National Economic Dev’t Authority (NEDA) approved the project in November of 2013 and is now promoted by the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center.
The group said that the Universal LRT Corp. (ULC), MRT 7 project proponent, controlled by Danding Cojuangco, through San Miguel Holdings Corp. (SMHC). “The MRT 7 project under the Build-Gradually- Transfer-Operate and Maintain (BGTOM) scheme is to be funded by the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), to be paid for 15 years, guaranteed by the Philippine gov’t.
PPP projects, as stipulated in their contracts, guarantee gargantuan profits their private partners which in the case of MRT-7 are Aquino relatives, allies and election benefactors,” Anakpawis said. The group also said the project would displace 40,000 residents of Pangarap Village in Caloocan City and thousands more in other parts of Caloocan and Quezon City.
The group called for other sectors to oppose the MRT 7 project and support the People’s Alliance Against MRT 7, mainly composed of sectors from affected communities.
