Osmeña favors continuation of ICC probe, hails Mejorada

Sen. Serge Osmeña III. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—A senator said Monday that the claims made by Manuel Mejorada Jr., a former Iloilo government official who accused Senate President Franklin Drilon of conspiring with other government officials to jack up the costs of the Iloilo Convention Center (ICC), could be considered sound if these are accepted in the Senate as pieces of “circumstantial evidence.”

In an interview, Senator Sergio Osmeña III said that although Mejorada lacks documentary evidence to back up his claims, the whistleblower has presented several valid points.

“There were a lot of points that were raised by Mr. Mejorada but he did not have the hard documentation. Now, hard documentation is only one of the types of evidence. Maganda ‘yung mga arguments niya and if you could convict by circumstantial evidence, he will be able to make his case. Kasi maganda ‘yung mga arguments, maganda ‘yung circumstances. Wala lang kopya,” Osmeña said in an interview.

Osmeña added that the probe on the ICC should continue as there are other aspects in the alleged overpricing of the ICC that should be scrutinized.

“Now I’m not saying that bribes did happen but what I am saying is, there are other aspects to the convention center issue that will make people suspicious that to me might be violative of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Gaya ng walang bidding, kelan ipinasok yung value engineering, bakit nila sinasabi na magandang donasyon ito P500 million, eh binili rin sa gobyerno iyan… ang binayaran lang nila ay P17 million to P30 million, tapos ang ipinagmamalaki ay dino-donate ito ng P500 million. Eh kumuha ng tax credit. Yung tax credit, baka P40 to 50 million. Lugi tayo dyan,” Osmeña said.

The senator also said that former Iloilo Representative Augusto Syjuco should also be given a chance to be heard on the Senate floor.

During the hearing last Thursday, Mejorada admitted that he has no evidence to support his claims against Drilon. He showed that overpricing occurred in the said project through citing online sources like Wikipedia and industry sources.

However, Osmeña’s colleagues have expressed reservations on allowing a second hearing on the ICC after Mejorada’s testimony. Senator Aquilino Pimentel III said that he would suggest to Senate blue committee chair Teofisto Guingona III to forego another hearing on the ICC while Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago dismissed Mejorada’s testimony as a “dud.”

The Senate committee probes will be suspended on Wednesday to give way to plenary deliberations on the 2015 national budget.

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