SBMA exec in graft case says he’s innocent

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT, Philippines—A Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) official facing graft charges in connection with a port operation deal in this free port said he would defend himself against what he described as “injustice.”

SBMA Senior Deputy Administrator Ramon Agregado on Wednesday said he had yet to receive a copy of the Ombudsman’s decision indicting him and SBMA Deputy Administrator Marcelino Sanqui.

“At any rate, I choose not to comment in respect [to] the current legal proceedings other than to maintain my innocence and to stress that I shall defend myself against this injustice to the very end,” Agregado said in a text message sent to the Inquirer.

The Inquirer tried to reach Sanqui but he did not take phone calls and respond to text messages.

The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the indictment for graft of Agregado and Sanqui, along with 16 former SBMA officials, led by former Chair Feliciano Salonga and former Administrator Armand Arreza, for “manifest partiality and evident bad faith” in awarding a contract to port operator Harbour Center Port Terminal Inc. (HCPTI) in 2010.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales approved a 32-page joint resolution on April 7 recommending the filing of charges against the incumbent and former SBMA officials for violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019, or the Antigraft and Corrupt Practices Act, in the Sandiganbayan.

SBMA Chair Roberto Garcia said the SBMA was waiting for the official transmittal of the Ombudsman’s memorandum and would “implement the orders as directed.”

An SBMA official, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, said the cases filed against the incumbent and former SBMA officials were “long overdue.”

“Three years of waiting and it took the Ombudsman to do it when it should have been Chair Garcia,” the official said.

“It’s about time. [SBMA] directors and stakeholders have been quite disappointed that Garcia did not revamp anyone, even those involved in anomalies like rice smuggling, stolen IT (information technology) equipment, etc.,”  the SBMA official said.

In 2009, HCPTI sent the SBMA an unsolicited proposal to develop and operate wharves and ports at the Subic Bay free port. The SBMA board approved the proposal in February 2010.