Group calls for ouster of Tugade

Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/John Paul R. Autor

A newly formed coalition calling for the ouster of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade urged the government on Tuesday to include the official in its investigation of gambling tycoon Jack Lam, alleging of possible bribery incidents during Tugade’s term as head of Clark Development Corp. (CDC).

Ray Junia, chair of Road Users Protection Advocates which is one of three groups that launched the Oust Tugade Movement, said the recent arrest of 1,316 illegal aliens working at Lam’s online gambling business in Fontana Leisure Park and Casino and subsequent bribe try on Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre “further put to doubt the integrity of Tugade.”

“By revealing the huge bribe offer, Secretary Aguirre could have inadvertently cast doubt on Tugade’s so-called success story simply because Lam had long been operating illegally at CDC but was left unhampered until lately when the new administration took over,” Junia said during the launch of the Oust Tugade Movement, which includes the Union of Filipino Workers and Rebolusyong Duterte.

Aguirre had revealed that Lam, through former Senior Supt. Wally Sombero, attempted to bribe him to protect his casino operations in the country to the tune of as much as P100 million a month.

Junia alleged that one of the reasons Lam and his business in Clark Freeport in Pampanga became “virtually untouchable…was because of huge sums of money that were changing hands during Tugade’s time at CDC.”

“It is common knowledge that CDC, like [Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority], operates like an independent republic, having its own police and security forces. It is impossible for illegal acts, especially in the magnitude of tens of billions of pesos, to happen without the top management of CDC not knowing of it and blinded,” Junia said.

Should the government fail to include Tugade in the economic sabotage case being built up against Lam, the groups warned that they would soon file an antigraft case against the transport chief in the Office of the Ombudsman for his “active neglect resulting in losses to the government.”

Assistant Transportation Secretary for Communications Cherie Mercado, however, belied the groups’ insinuations against Tugade, as she pointed out that Tugade is an “upright man” who “abhors corruption.”

“He knows Jack Lam as one of the locators in Clark when he was CDC president, but that doesn’t mean Secretary Tugade is involved in any wrongdoing. It is not CDC who grants permits for online gambling. In fact, Secretary Tugade was very strict in granting [business process outsourcing] permits to make sure it was not being used as front for online gambling,” Mercado said.

Noel Tulabut, head of the CDC’s communications department, explained that the CDC only endorses work permits to the Department of Labor and Employment, which is also “affirmed” by the Bureau of Immigration. He added that the identities of 1,316 Chinese nationals that were apprehended recently were still being cross-checked in their list of workers have been endorsed and given work permits.

In a statement, former Southern Leyte Rep. Roger Mercado also threw in his support behind Tugade as he assailed the allegations of the Oust Duterte Movement as “baseless and politically motivated.” He noted that Rupa was not even true to its name as it “has not laid down a single advocacy for road users.”

“It is very clear that the only thing they care about is for Tugade to leave the DOTr,” said Mercado, who served as assistant secretary for administration and legal affairs in the Department of Transportation and Communications under the Arroyo administration.—WITH A REPORT BY MIGUEL R. CAMUS