EARLY this week, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag revealed that the agency has created a special task force to investigate alleged irregularities involving infrastructure projects and transactions related to the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
This was after the bureau, as Matibag claims, obtained documents that warrant a formal investigation, particularly involving the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) Foundation Inc.
The NBI director said one of the issues being looked into is the alleged lack of public bidding involving Hong Kong Manila and questions over unliquidated funds.
Matibag further said that the probe will be handled by the bureau’s financial investigation unit and special action unit, in coordination with the Commission on Audit, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.
While Matibag insists the probe has nothing to do with Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, the lawmaker cannot escape responsibility as he had chaired Phisgoc, a private organization which Cayetano had tapped to organize the biennial games even as he was then the Foreign Affairs secretary which has nothing to do with sporting events.
Actually, seven years ago, I wrote an article on that issue which was published in another paper I used to write for.
In that article, I quoted several sources, among them Julius Manicad of the Daily Tribune and politiko.com.ph.
In his column, Manicad named four individuals that Cayetano had reportedly placed on the Phisgoc board “to ensure control over the foundation.”
They were:
a) Donaldo Caringal, the Taguig lawmaker’s “boyhood pal at La Salle Zobel.”
b) Ramon Suzara, the physical education teacher of Cayetano and Caringal. He was also “the former Philippine Superliga president, whose ties with his volleyball colleagues were reportedly severed by financial issues and other accusations hurled against him.”
c) Monica Ann Mitra, granddaughter of the late House speaker Ramon Mitra, and niece of Games and Amusement Board Chairman Baham Mitra. According to Manicad, “you have to go through her first if you want to reach the lawmaker from Taguig, if at all.”
d) Dexter Estacio, a graphic artist at the Taguig City Hall, who was elected treasurer of Phisgoc and had control over the billions of pesos that the foundation would raise through sponsorships, donations, subsidies and, yes, government money.
Estacio was also “alleged to be one of the passengers of the helicopter that took aerial shots of the so-called Hacienda Binay in Rosario town in Batangas. The photos taken there played a crucial role in the demolition plot aimed at thwarting the presidential bid of former Makati mayor Jejomar Binay in 2016.
According to reports, the Phisgoc Foundation took over the functions of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and made decisions on its own, including the creation of the SEA Games’ official logo, theme, mascot and other marketing collaterals without the approval of the POC board.
Taking over the organizing of the SEA Games, the Cayetano-led Phisgoc reportedly asked the Philippine Sports Commission to release P59.2 million just for the apparel to be used by the Filipino athletes for the December games.
According to politiko.com.ph, Phisgoc had commissioned foreign sportswear manufacturer Asics to dress the Filipino athletes to the tune of P41,160 per set of uniform.
The breakdown is as follows: polo shirt – P5,150; round neck shirt – P2,480; track jacket – P6,310; track pants – P7,400; shorts – P5,100; socks – P2,700; backpack – P3,190; running shoes – P3,950; and cap – P2,400.
Even with the exorbitant cost of the sports apparel, Cayetano at that time, denied they were overpriced as he accused critics of muddling the issue by comparing the unit prices of the items requested to the unit prices of the supplies sold at the stores.
He also refused to clarify what materials the sports uniforms were made of, especially the P2,700 pair of socks except to say the quality of sportswear that Asics agreed to provide the athletes were far superior from what was found in stores.
Former president Rodrigo Duterte finally stepped in and barred Phisgoc from interfering with the biennial sport events. Duterte even insinuated that there would be an investigation of the foundation. But that was as far as he went — to insinuate that he would investigate. But nothing else followed.
Now, with Matibag’s pronouncement, we finally see a glimmer of hope that we might see a closure on this matter, the cost of which the NBI director places at P10 billion, which would easily qualify for the non-bailable case of plunder. Duterte insinuated it, Matibag will finish it.
Do they serve kikiam in Payatas?
