CLARK FREEPORT – A fact-finding committee headed by Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) chairman Nestor Mangio has sought “at the very least a reprimand” of CIAC president and chief executive officer Victor Jose Luciano over controversies on scraps worth some P33.5 million supposedly for Aeta tribal folk.
At a press conference here on Wednesday, CIAC executive vice president Alexander Cauguiran said the CIAC board has also asked the Office of Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) to investigate the case, although he himself had proposed a probe by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) instead.
Luciano, who authorized the demolition of 17 unused buildings here for scraps to be donated to Aetas, welcomed the move, although he insisted that Mangio’s fact-finding committee “did not follow due process” before it came out with its final report submitted to the CIAC board.
He also deplored the fact-finding’s objectivity, noting that Mangio “was the one who asked the board to establish a fact-finding committee and then he headed the committee.”
“I have never been queried by the committee since I arrived from the US last June 8,” Luciano said. He went to the US to attend a family affair.
He said he supported “an independent probe by the OGCC” which he described “as the most logical agency” to dig into the controversy.
Luciano and Mangio had reportedly been at odds over another controversy over the contractor for a proposed $100 million new terminal at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA). The controversy prompted Pres. Arroyo to order the scrapping of a Kuwaiti firm supported by Mangio for the project.
Mangio said he asked Luciano to account for some P23 million of the funds raised from scraps. Luciano, in an interview in his office yesterday, said he would be able to do so.
Earlier, scrap dealer Josie Gomez, who acted as intermediary between Aetas and buyers of scrap from the demolished buildings, said she raised P9.5 million from the sale of scraps from only 11 buildings.
She claimed to have used P4.5 million of this amount for a day care center construction and jetmatic pumps in Aeta villages in Bamban Tarlac. The rest she gave in cash to Aetas on installment basis since the demolitions started last year.
This leaves some P23 million unexplained out of the total P33,518,809 estimated worth of all the scraps derived from all 17 buildings, Mangio said.
Oscar Rivera, head of the Bamban Aeta Tribal Association (BATA), however, insisted he got only P15,000 and 100 sacks of rice from Gomez from scraps from only two demolished buildings. Gomez also acted as agent for the group of Oscar Dizon, head of the Association of Tribal Chieftains (ATC) to whom she claimed to have turned over P9.5 million.
Another supposed beneficiary was Aeta Catalino Saplala who requested Malacanang for the use of two of the unused buildings.
He said, however, that he was surprised when told by one Roger from the CIAC that the two buildings he requested for was already demolished and had a buyer of scraps.
He said he got only P50,000 from the deal.
In its report, the Mangio committee urged the CIAC board to “at the very least reprimand” Luciano on three grounds. It said Luciano violated the “rules and regulations of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Commission on Audit (COA) in the disposal of government properties and fund assistance” for the Aetas.
The report also noted that Luciano failed to give “complete accounting of all the proceeds of the sale of the 17 buildings demolished,” Mangio said.
He added that handwritten receipts from Gomez indicated an amount worth P344,758 turned over to the Aetas.
It also noted that the demolished buildings still had “commercial value” and were “economically repairable.”
Despite this, however, the CIAC board admitted that the “matrix” of the CIAC on the powers of Luciano to donate is silent on limitations on donations.
Luciano insisted he did not violate the circular of the DBM on donations which, he noted, covers only government agencies with funds from the general appropriations. He, however, admitted that COA rulings might have applied.
He also said that the Mangio committee’s estimate of the value of the scrap materials was largely “guesswork” and that he did not have any idea of their worth when he approved the demolitions.
At a press conference here on Wednesday, CIAC executive vice president Alexander Cauguiran said the CIAC board has also asked the Office of Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) to investigate the case, although he himself had proposed a probe by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) instead.
Luciano, who authorized the demolition of 17 unused buildings here for scraps to be donated to Aetas, welcomed the move, although he insisted that Mangio’s fact-finding committee “did not follow due process” before it came out with its final report submitted to the CIAC board.
He also deplored the fact-finding’s objectivity, noting that Mangio “was the one who asked the board to establish a fact-finding committee and then he headed the committee.”
“I have never been queried by the committee since I arrived from the US last June 8,” Luciano said. He went to the US to attend a family affair.
He said he supported “an independent probe by the OGCC” which he described “as the most logical agency” to dig into the controversy.
Luciano and Mangio had reportedly been at odds over another controversy over the contractor for a proposed $100 million new terminal at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA). The controversy prompted Pres. Arroyo to order the scrapping of a Kuwaiti firm supported by Mangio for the project.
Mangio said he asked Luciano to account for some P23 million of the funds raised from scraps. Luciano, in an interview in his office yesterday, said he would be able to do so.
Earlier, scrap dealer Josie Gomez, who acted as intermediary between Aetas and buyers of scrap from the demolished buildings, said she raised P9.5 million from the sale of scraps from only 11 buildings.
She claimed to have used P4.5 million of this amount for a day care center construction and jetmatic pumps in Aeta villages in Bamban Tarlac. The rest she gave in cash to Aetas on installment basis since the demolitions started last year.
This leaves some P23 million unexplained out of the total P33,518,809 estimated worth of all the scraps derived from all 17 buildings, Mangio said.
Oscar Rivera, head of the Bamban Aeta Tribal Association (BATA), however, insisted he got only P15,000 and 100 sacks of rice from Gomez from scraps from only two demolished buildings. Gomez also acted as agent for the group of Oscar Dizon, head of the Association of Tribal Chieftains (ATC) to whom she claimed to have turned over P9.5 million.
Another supposed beneficiary was Aeta Catalino Saplala who requested Malacanang for the use of two of the unused buildings.
He said, however, that he was surprised when told by one Roger from the CIAC that the two buildings he requested for was already demolished and had a buyer of scraps.
He said he got only P50,000 from the deal.
In its report, the Mangio committee urged the CIAC board to “at the very least reprimand” Luciano on three grounds. It said Luciano violated the “rules and regulations of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Commission on Audit (COA) in the disposal of government properties and fund assistance” for the Aetas.
The report also noted that Luciano failed to give “complete accounting of all the proceeds of the sale of the 17 buildings demolished,” Mangio said.
He added that handwritten receipts from Gomez indicated an amount worth P344,758 turned over to the Aetas.
It also noted that the demolished buildings still had “commercial value” and were “economically repairable.”
Despite this, however, the CIAC board admitted that the “matrix” of the CIAC on the powers of Luciano to donate is silent on limitations on donations.
Luciano insisted he did not violate the circular of the DBM on donations which, he noted, covers only government agencies with funds from the general appropriations. He, however, admitted that COA rulings might have applied.
He also said that the Mangio committee’s estimate of the value of the scrap materials was largely “guesswork” and that he did not have any idea of their worth when he approved the demolitions.
