Press Release
February 12, 2009

SENATE WILL DEPOSE FG

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair of the economic affairs committee, said that it is not enough for First Gentleman Miguel Arroyo to submit a written comprehensive denial to the Senate about his alleged participation in the alleged collusion among blacklisted Filipino contractors for public bidding in World Bank-funded projects.

"We shall depose, meaning we shall send written questions to, the FG, immediately after the senators are given a chance to read the so-called NRIMP-1-Evidence File to be submitted by the Ombudsman," she said.

Santiago was referring to a recently discovered evidence consisting of a WB document which Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez told the hearing yesterday (February 12) she received only two days ago.

"After the senators read this latest file, then we shall hold an executive session to determine whether there is legal ground to further examine the FG and other implicated persons," the senator said.

Santiago said that the FG and other public figures were implicated by a WB document called Notice of Judicial Sanctions Proceedings Part 2 given to her by Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

In a powerpoint presentation, Santiago explained that under the Rules on Electronic Evidence, a computer printout such as the Notice of Sanctions Proceedings is admissible as an exception to the hearsay rule, but only after it is authenticated.

"Many concerned citizens are agog over this Notice. But it has to be authenticated, meaning, that the custodian of the original document should testify that it is a correct copy of the original" she said.

Santiago read out excerpts form the Notice posted on the internet consisting of certain allegations made against implicated persons.

"Before we can officially admit this Notice, first the senators have to be given evidence showing its integrity and reliability," she said, citing the Rules on Electronic Evidence.

Santiago included in her presentation excerpts from the article "WB Report: Mixed of Fact, Innuendo," by Malou Mangahas of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ).

"Even the PCIJ calls the Notice posted on the internet as conflicting and consisting of raw information, some of which are good but some of which are bad," Santiago said.

Santiago agreed with the PCIJ article that the Notice is just a narration of alleged testimonies of witnesses, without any effort on the part of WB to corroborate the testimonies or even to comment on their reliability.

At the hearing, all the implicated persons present denied the charges of collusion against them..

One of the implicated persons, First Gentleman Miguel Arroyo, was absent but was represented by Dr. Antonio Sibulo, Director of the St. Luke's Hospital Heart Institute, who testified that Arroyo's personal appearance at the Senate hearing would be in effect life-threatening.

But Sibulo added that Arroyo is capable of sending written answers to written questions, which is called "written interrogatories" by the Rules of Court.

Arroyo was also represented by his lawyer Ruy Rondain, who read Arroyo's statement of denial.

The implicated persons present were: Former Rep. Prospero Pichay, former Rep. Jerome Paras, former Rep. Jacinto Paras, former DPWH Sec. Florante Soriquez, DPWH Asst. Reg. Dir. Huillio Boy Belleza, DPWH Asst. Dir. Augusto Miranda, and DPWH Asst. Dir. Lope Adriano.

"This is unintelligible to me as a lawyer. On the one hand, the WB sent its Referral Report to the finance secretary and to the Ombudsman complaining of alleged collusion. But on the other hand, the WB imposed the proviso that its Report should not be used in any administrative or criminal investigation. It just does not make sense. A confidential complaint such as the one filed by WB is an oxymoron," she said.

Santiago and Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, the Senate president, said that for the next hearing, they will each sign a subpoena duces tecum for the WB country director Bert Hofman.

"We sent him an invitation for the first hearing. He did not appear. He does not want to give us copies of any WB documents, until he receives permission from the WB office in Washington D.C. This raises the issue of whether World Bank Rules or Philippine Rules of Court should apply with respect to WB documents," she said.

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