Implement what?
If fair must be fair, it must be said that Solicitor General
Eduardo Nachura had always wanted the policy team supposedly overseeing the
closure of Terminal III problems, had always wanted a meeting.
On Dec. 4, he got the surprise of his life. Executive
Secretary Eduardo R. Ermita declared in that meeting that there should be no
more meetings of the policy group.
In response to Nachura’s request for a meeting which was not
granted, he told Carolyn B. Lamm, lead counsel of White & Case in the
arbitration case, that all the President wants is to "just implement."
Nachura was left dumfounded. He could not clarify to Ms. Lamm
what there is to implement.
Lamm was even more surprised. She could not believe that
President Arroyo could bark a "just implement" order without telling the lawyers
what is to be implemented.
None of the lawyers fighting the case in Washington DC was
ever told that there was a plan to implement. Not the Solicitor General, the
government’s official counsel, not the lawyers of White & Case, not former
Supreme Court Justice Florentino P. Feliciano, the arbitration expert helping
defend the government.
What could that plan be?
It is becoming clearer and clearer that the plan ordered by
the President was hatched by very few people, including Ermita.
While the Philippine legal panel is hard at work trying to
win the arbitration complaint filed by Fraport, it appears that Malacañang has
practically committed to lose the case.
It is said that there are 200 million reasons to lose the
case, each denominated in dollars.
If implemented, there would rise another strong argument to
impeach President Arroyo.
The plan borders on treason because the country is dishonored
by an apparent willingness to lose the arbitration case.
It becomes even more serious treason if the reason for the
treachery is money.
Nobody in the opposition seems to think of it that way. They
will let this one pass.
They have been so used to Mrs. Arroyo’s ways that nothing
will surprise them anymore.
The focus of the Opposition on cheating is old hat because
there is a potential $200 million scandal.
They wouldn’t denounce it. Maybe they are waiting for it to
happen. It will happen.
Paying more is dangerous
Tomas Alcantara, briefly one of the key advisers of President
Arroyo, called for a meeting of the policy group on Oct. 19 last year. He
declared that only $144 million had so far been proven by Fraport as having been
invested in Terminal III.
The legal group advised the policy team to look at the
records of the arbitration cases in the International Center for Settlement of
Investment Disputes and in the International Chamber of Commerce in Singapore.
They declared that it would be dangerous to pay Fraport any
amount that is not supported by the records.
Their suggestion was to wait for the appraisal of the assets
of Terminal III which might be done by valuators recommended by Piatco.
Given this scenario, the valuation might well come close to
$450 million, a figure that is definitely padded.
The question is: which one will the government consider as
closer to the truth, the facts and evidence introduced in the arbitration courts
or the valuation of a group recommended by Piatco?
It must be pointed out that the government is already getting
plenty of help from independent valuators in defending the Philippine case. They
might be yanked out, if they have not, in fact, been thrown out.
Misimpressions about Mercy
I declared last week that Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez will
get Hernando
B. Perez, her former boss, off the hook.
I was wrong. On the surface, it appears that the Ombudsman is
made of tougher stuff than I thought. She filed a complaint for graft and
corruption against Perez.
Justice seems to be grinding which is not saying Nani Perez,
former secretary of justice, is guilty. The point is the Ombudsman filed the
information with the Sandiganbayan.
The ball is no longer in her hands. I said earlier that the
real test is how she will handle the case of Joc Joc Bolante who squandered P720
million for GMA’s campaign, money intended for farmers.
I also said that the Ombudsman indicted Perez on orders of
more powerful people. There is nothing I would love better than to eat my words
again.
That will happen if she indicts Joc Joc. I have some of the
evidence she might need. I will be too willing to give the list of recipients of
the money to the Ombudsman.
What can really happen?
Considering the flow of events and the apparent refusal of
the government to listen to the lawyers handling the Terminal III arbitration
cases, we might, in the end, see the Arroyo administration allowing a settlement
for $450 million.
The settlement will be drawn up with Piatco and Fraport by
the Office of the Solicitor General.
When that happens, the lawyers of White & Case as well as
Justice Feliciano would have dropped out or would have been dismissed from the
case.
A grand fraud would have been consummated.
Malacañang could have avoided the vulgarity of paying more to
a contractor who failed to complete a supposedly world-class terminal if it had
quietly negotiated the numbers or amounts it wants to pay the claimants – Piatco
and Fraport.
Now, they are taking the biggest risk in the history of
corruption in this country. But they don’t seem to mind. There is plenty of
money to make. And they will make it if the "high-level" negotiations dictate
the terms of settlement. Remember what President Arroyo declared "just
implement." A fraud will be implemented.
Fraport’s problem at home
As early as September 2004, the Federal Bureau of Criminal
Investigation of Germany raided the offices of Fraport in Frankfurt.
The agents, headed by a world-known expert on bribery and
corruption, seized thousands of documents in at least two raids.
They wanted to know whether it was true that the company
bribed officials in Manila to get into the construction of Terminal III, or
whether Fraport violated fiduciary trust.
The Philippine legal panel defending the Philippine
government in the arbitration case filed by Fraport has submitted documents that
indicate that officials of Fraport violated fiduciary trust.
Fraport invented the tall tale that around $400 million
invested in Terminal III had to be written off because the money went to bribes.
Yes, it went to bribes. But who took the bribes?
The answer is provided by the efforts of the anti-money
laundering council to investigate officials of Fraport and Piatco and former
DOTC secretary Pantaleon Alvarez for maintaining secret accounts.
Where did all that money come from? If they are not dirty, why are both
Fraport and Piatco trying and succeeding in stopping the AMLC from doing its
job?
