MANILA, Philippines?Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Thursday urged Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago to resume looking into the World Bank?s blacklisting of three Filipino construction firms so she could subpoena the report implicating President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?s husband in corrupt activities.

Lacson made the call a day after he released to the media ?excerpts? of the World Bank report that, he said, had at least 10 witnesses linking First Gentleman Jose Miguel ?Mike? Arroyo, certain politicians and public works officials to collusion in rigged biddings.

Among the allegations in the report was that Mike Arroyo had been given a 5-percent commission as his share of the 10-15-percent increase in the bidding contract of World Bank-funded projects.

Santiago held only one hearing last month. She said she would resume the inquiry only if Lacson would be able to produce the witness who told him that one of the blacklisted contractors delivered bribe money to Mike Arroyo?s office in 2003.

For his part, Sen. Manuel ?Mar? Roxas II called on the President to order an independent investigation of the latest controversy involving her husband.

?She should act to clean up the graft gangs in her government,? Roxas said in a statement. ?She must spearhead this war against corruption by starting in her own backyard. Only then can she prove her sincerity.?

In a text message sent later to reporters, Roxas noted Ms Arroyo?s unscheduled trip to the United States and wondered whether it had something to do with the current scandal.

Criminal proceedings

Lacson separately told radio stations dzMM and dzXL that by resuming the inquiry, Santiago could issue a subpoena to the Office of the Ombudsman to compel it to release the World Bank report.

He pointed out that the World Bank had sent the Ombudsman through the Department of Finance a copy of its findings that three Filipino contractors colluded in cornering projects that the World Bank funded under the National Roads and Improvement and Management Program (NRIMP 1).

?That?s why the Ombudsman should start criminal proceedings,? Lacson said.

Santiago told reporters on Wednesday that she had a copy of the World Bank report and that it did not mention the allegations against Mike Arroyo.

This prompted Lacson to say that Santiago must have the ?wrong copy.?

On Thursday, he said Santiago was apparently holding, not the actual report of the World Bank, but notices it had issued to the blacklisted contractors.

Lacson said Santiago may or may not resume the inquiry. ?But it is the Philippine government, the Filipino people, who will be put in an embarrassing position,? he said.

Lacson recalled the portion of the report where a Japanese contractor linked Mike Arroyo and the late Sen. Robert Barbers to purported bribes.

?Isn?t that embarrassing? A senator and the husband of a President linked to bribery?? he said.

Lacson said that if he managed to get a complete copy of the World Bank report, he would deliver a privilege speech so that the Senate and the people would be informed of the many wrongs in the government procurement system.

And if Santiago, who chairs the committee on economic affairs, will not resume the inquiry, Sen. Francis Escudero is prepared to step in.

In a statement, Escudero said his committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes and laws would ?dig deeper? into the issue in an effort to tighten safeguards in the government procurement system.

?To avoid the practice of what the World Bank has already called a major cartel, the discretion of procurement agencies should be lessened and observers should be invited to participate in the bidding process,? he said.

Copy of complaints

In Malacañang, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the purported World Bank report implicating the President?s husband in the rigging of public works contracts was but a copy of complaints prepared by losing contractors.

Remonde said he got this information at a meeting with World Bank officials.

?The theory is that what [Lacson is] peddling as the World Bank report is not really a report of the investigation but a copy of the allegations made by the losing contractor that was given to the respondent contractor,? he told reporters after a briefing.

Remonde likened the document to those submitted by complainants to the Office of the Prosecutor, which requires a reply from respondents.

?We really need to look at this so-called World Bank report [to see] if it is [the real thing],? he said.

He expressed doubt that the World Bank would ?leak its findings,? and said ?that?s not the way [it] works.?

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita was vague on whether Malacañang was holding a copy of the official World Bank report. But he said the Office of the Ombudsman was now looking into the allegations.

About two weeks ago when the report was first made public, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya said World Bank officials had furnished the Ombudsman all documents concerning the rigged bids.

?If there is evidence to prove the involvement of those in government, especially from the executive branch, [the case] should proceed,? Ermita said.

Asked if the Palace would formally ask clarification from the World Bank, Ermita said it was leaving the matter to the finance and budget departments and the National Economic and Development Authority.

Put up or shut up

Prospero Pichay, a former representative of Surigao del Sur and now board chair of the Local Water Utilities Administration, challenged Lacson to make public the purported evidence linking him, Mike Arroyo and former Negros Occidental Rep. Jacinto ?Jing? Paras to the corruption in World Bank-funded projects.

?My advice to Sen. Ping Lacson is: If you don?t have evidence, keep your mouth shut because you will destroy the reputation of the Senate,? Pichay told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on the phone.

He added: ?Senator Ping, look for other victims. Spare the First Gentleman, Jing Paras and myself from your dirty play ? I challenge Sen. Ping Lacson to say it outside of the Senate, and I challenge the World Bank to come out with an official report on the matter so that I can file necessary charges against irresponsible people.?

Pichay pointed out that Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Santiago had said that the evidence being bandied about by Lacson was ?pure hearsay.?

?In their copy of the report, our names are not there. Fabricating evidence is not good. Is that one way of serving the people, by concocting lies and rumors and hearsay?? he said.

Pichay said that ?for the record,? there was ?no foreign-funded project, both foreign and local,? with E.C. de Luna Construction Corp., one of the three blacklisted contractors.

?Second, no foreign-funded project was ever implemented in my district,? he said.

3 terms, 3 bids

Pichay said a project for the concreting of roads worth P1.2 billion was first bid out during his first term as congressman in 1998. It was part of the NRIMP 1 financed by the World Bank.

?In my three terms, three times they also bid it out. So how could I have influenced these foreign contractors? How can I influence the Bids and Awards Committee when I?m not a member?? he said.

According to Pichay, the World Bank should have investigated Chinese contractors aside from the four other Chinese contractors it had blacklisted.

But he could not name these contractors, saying he did not know them.

?All of them are also guilty of collusion. I think the World Bank should also be investigated why that happened,? he said.

Pichay said that when he complained about this to Ms Arroyo, the latter authorized the release of around P700 million using local funds.

?E.C. de Luna did not get the project,? Pichay said. ?I can?t understand why Sen. Ping Lacson has to fabricate documents involving me.? With a report from Christian V. Esguerra