For example, Senator Paolo Benigno "Bam" Aquino IV, first cousin of President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III, accepted donations from Vicente Tan Lao and Michael Allan Sicat who each gave P5 million to his campaign. Lao is the proprietor of Vicente T. Lao Construction, listed in the DPWH database of registered contractors for public works projects. A month before the 2013 elections, President Aquino himself led the groundbreaking ceremony for the rehabilitation of the 14-kilometer Punta-Dansullan-Sergio Osmeña Road in Zamboanga del Norte. Phase 1 of the road project is being undertaken by Vicente T. Lao Construction at a cost of P69 million. In late July this year, Vicente T. Lao Construction also submitted technical and financial proposals to the Department of Education for an P8-billion project to build school buildings under the government’s public-private partnership (PPP) program. Michael Allan Sicat owns M.E. Sicat Construction, which is currently engaged in the design and construction of the Balara Sludge Treatment Plant for the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, and the structural design and retrofitting of the Balara Waste Treatment Plant in the MWSS compound in Quezon City. On its website, M.E. Sicat Construction also boasts of being “a contracting and service-based company serving both government and private institutions. The group’s principal activities are engineering, resource management, supply chain solutions, building, pipeline services, civil construction, and utilities.” Bam’s Dad Aquino received as well a campaign contribution of P 10.2 million from his father Paul Aquino, who had been heavily engaged in the extractive industries, particularly in geothermal energy extraction, until his retirement in 2010. Prior to his retirement, Paul Aquino had been president and Chief Executive Officer of Energy Development Corporation, in 2004, when it was still a government-owned and -controlled company under the Philippine National Oil Company, and carrying over the position well past the EDC’s privatization and sale to the Lopez group in 2007. After 2007, Paul Aquino also became president of Green Core Geothermal Incorporated, a generation, distribution, and transmission company owned by the Lopez group. Replying to inquiries sent by PCIJ, Paul Aquino stressed that he is no longer connected with the EDC or any of its subsidiaries. “I have retired as an officer and director of Energy Development Corporation and its operating subsidiaries as of July 2010,” the older Aquino said in an email. Senator Bam Aquino also responded via email to questions sent by the PCIJ. Bam Aquino said that “our basic policy was not to accept from individuals alleged or connected to illegal gambling, drug trafficking and other illegal activities, aside from, of course, following the law.” He added that “to my knowledge, we are compliant with all regulations specified in the Election Code.” But when PCIJ sent another email raising concerns over the business links of Sicat, Lao, and his father, Senator Aquino said his staff would have to study the matter further. “Thank you for pointing this out,” he said. “Again, all contributions were accepted in good faith. In any case, let me check this with our campaign accountants and finance team.” Asked if the Liberal Party under whose wing he ran in 2013 had any specific policy on the acceptance of campaign donations, Aquino said the party may have worked within the same lines as his staff. “I am sure the LP (Liberal Party) has similar policies,” he said, “but you will have to ask the party officers for these.” Millions for LP It appears, however, that President Aquino’s Liberal Party accepted donations from personalities who may belong to the prohibited list. Documents submitted by the LP to the Comelec for instance showed that the Liberal Party had accepted donations of P5 million each from Willy Ng Ocier and Alfredo Macam Yao. Ocier is principal executive officer of property, leisure, and gaming firm Belle Corporation, and had a stint in the limelight in 2001 when he testified against former President Joseph Estrada in the graft and plunder charges against him. The charges stemmed, in part, from allegations that Estrada obtained P189.7 million in commissions from the purchase of Belle shares by the Social Security System and the Government Service Insurance System. Ocier is also chairman of Aragorn Power and Energy Corporation, a firm set up in 2005 “to prospect, explore, exploit, extract, produce, purchase or otherwise acquire, store, transport, use, market, distribute, exchange, sell… any and all kinds of petroleum and petroleum products, oil, gas and other volatile substances.” SEC records appear to show that Ocier only has a nominal share of one in the company, with almost total ownership belonging to the APC Group. But further research in the SEC showed that Ocier is also chairman of the APC Group, and in fact owns 36 percent of the APC Group. As well, he owns 79 percent of the Kalinga Apayao Geothermal Resources Inc., an electricity distributor registered with the SEC in July 2010. Yao, for his part, is president and chief executive officer of Asiawide Airways Incorporated, registered with the SEC in 2008. Asiawide is an aircraft transport and charter company, of which Alfredo owns 20 percent. Sixty percent of Asiawide is owned by AMY Holdings, which, incidentally, is 54.8 percent owned by Alfredo Yao as well. PCIJ has been trying to schedule an interview with LP Secretary General Mel Senen Sarmiento. But Sarmiento’s staff said the matter has already been referred to LP general counsel Raul Daza. Team PNoy kitty There were other problematic donations made to senators who ran and won under the administration’s Team PNoy. For instance: • Team PNoy guest candidate Senator Francis Escudero received P10 million from Reynaldo Manalansan, owner, president, and chairman of Tokwing Construction. Tokwing is heavily engaged with the DPWH, with at least 15 pending projects ranging from P4 million to P429 million mainly for flood control. • Escudero also received P10 million from Jose D. Acuzar of New San Jose Builders. Years earlier, Acuzar had been involved in the building of the P2.8-billion mass housing project in Rodriguez, Rizal called ‘Erap City.’ Acuzar’s firm was also responsible for renovating the famed Boracay mansion along 11th St. New Manila, Quezon City reportedly as a gift to then President Estrada in exchange for the contract. • Senator Juan Edgardo ‘Sonny’ Angara of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino received P5 million from his cousin, Riza Angara Moises, owner of the bus firm Genesis Transport Services. Moises is also the treasurer of the Sierra Madre Pacific Renewable Energy Corporation. • Angara also received P7.5 million from Jaime E. Chua, owner of JAC Transportation Systems, operator of the bus firm JAC Liner. A search of SEC records also showed that Chua is involved in Auto Bus Transport Industries Incorporated, and Metro Manila Bus Company Incorporated. Chua also donated P2.5 million to the LDP campaign. • Nacionalista Party Senator Alan Peter Cayetano received P7 million from Jose B. Baylon, vice president for corporate affairs of Nickel Asia, one of the biggest nickel mining firms in the country. • Senator Grace Poe Llamanzares received P10 million from Thomas Tan, who is connected with MG8 Terminal Incorporated; Mactan Shipyard Corporation; Baseco Shipyard Corporation; Maple Tanker Corporation; Molave Tanker Corporation; and Narra Tanker Corporation. • Too, Poe received P10 million from Michael de Leon Escaler, treasurer of the Mazzaraty Energy Corporation, which is involved in the generation, collection, and distribution of electricity. Escaler also owns 60 percent of Andrew and Gray Transport Incorporated, and Whitelands Express Inc.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Oct 2013 17:11:24 +0000
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