MANILA, Philippines—Members of the House of Representatives are questioning how an obscure firm cornered a total of P1.5 billion worth of contracts to make road signs and guard rails mostly in Isabela and Bataan from the Department of Public Works and Highways’ Road Board.

Based on documents furnished by several House members who requested anonymity, Meditech Trade and Development was awarded 77 contracts between 2007 and 2008 with an average cost of P19.5 million per project.

The San Juan-based company listed its general manager as John T. Tansipek. Tansipek was unavailable for comment while his assistant, a certain Juanito who refused to give his surname, refused to answer the Inquirer’s queries over the phone.

Among the projects awarded to Meditech were a P14.45-million contract for 1-kilometer of traffic pavement markings in Antipolo City, P13 million for 1,300 pieces of guard rails in Palawan, P19.291 million for traffic signs in Quezon province and P24 million for a one-kilometer asphalt overlay contract on Kennon Road.

Lion’s share

But the lion’s share of Meditech’s contracts were in Isabela (45) and Bataan (24) for road signs, road markings and guard rails.

The P1.5 billion worth of contracts awarded to Meditech was part of the P60.5-billion Road Board funds collected from 2001 to 2009 that Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago has investigated.

She wants the Ombudsman to prosecute former Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, a presidential aspirant, and the former executive director of the Road Board, Rodolfo “Dodi” Puno, a brother of Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno.

Aboveboard

Dodi Puno on Tuesday said his actions on the Road Board during his watch were aboveboard.

He denied allegations that he owned yachts, luxury residences and expensive cars and that he was married.

Puno, executive director of the Road Board from January 2005 to April 30, 2008, welcomed the findings of the Senate economic affairs committee of Santiago and her recommendation for the filing of plunder charges against him for the alleged misuse of the road user’s tax.

“With full faith in the Ombudsman and her office, I am confident that I will be vindicated from all of these unfounded charges,” Puno said in a statement.

He said records of the Road Board would show that its actions were “undertaken in accordance with law” and that the board “exercised due diligence in the allocation and disbursement of funds for projects submitted by the implementing agencies for funding.”

Personal bias

Puno said Santiago was “exposing her personal bias by singling me out,” insisting that the senator was aware that it was beyond his authority to allocate and disburse funds for projects.

“Hopefully, this is not another attempt at political vendetta against my brother, Interior Secretary Ronnie Puno,” he said.

Puno said he was looking forward to defending himself in court.

He decried what he said was Santiago’s “abuse” of the privilege hour and her use of parliamentary immunity from suit when she engaged in “gossip and character assassination.”

“Her tale of my alleged ownership of two yachts, luxury condominiums, expensive cars and a Boracay house are untrue, as any simple check of the facts will prove,” he said.

“She is even wrong about such basic facts as my civil status, which is single.”

Puno was referring to Santiago’s sponsorship of her resolution seeking the Senate to support her recommendations against Puno in which she also tackled his lifestyle and love life.

Santiago said Puno was married but was pursuing beauty queens and movie stars who were likewise married.

Unaware of Dodi Puno’s statement but aware of Secretary Puno’s new statements against her Tuesday, Santiago said her resolution was passed and approved by the Senate the other day.

Obsessive-compulsive

She said she would not wage a word war with Secretary Puno and asked him instead to ask the other senators for supporting the resolution.

“It is the Senate that he should be complaining to. He should stop howling at me,” she said of Puno.

“These brothers are obsessive-compulsive. Don’t include me in your nocturnal activities. It’s not my cup of tea,” the senator said in Filipino.

Santiago reiterated that she would not hesitate to fight back if the brothers continued to attack her.