More questions on LRT Cavite extension

(Continued from last Friday)

The anomalies in the acquisition of the land do not end there. The supporting documents attached to Rep. Ayong Maliksi’s letter on Aug. 4, 2008 show that broker Cynthia S. Monteclaros began the negotiations consolidating the land parcels months before the LRTA broached, on Nov. 15, 2007, its official request to Maliksi for Cavite province’s assistance to identify a suitable relocation site. Most of the lands, including the agricultural parcels, were tied up by Monteclaros before the LRTA forwarded to Maliksi a draft of the mysterious memorandum of agreement (MOA) on Jan. 7, 2008.

In the same letter, Maliksi advised the LRTA that the purchase price for the seven parcels of land was fixed by the parties at P600 per square meter. In order to demonstrate to the LRTA that the negotiated price was advantageous to the government, Maliksi attached two questionable contracts of sale in the “Municipality of General Trias valued between P1,102 and P1,765 per sq m.”

However, the first contract of sale, which was actually valued at P1,500 per sq m, was entered into on Oct. 18, 2007, involving no less than  of 1,765 sq m of land covered by TCT 1102523 and TCT 1102522. Thereafter,  Descalso signed on Jan. 8, 2008, a special power of attorney appointing Monteclaros attorney-in-fact to sell the property “for a price prevailing in the locality where the property is located at her own discretion.” The original contract of sale was obviously just a sham and used merely to mislead the LRTA on the true value of properties in the area.

The contract of sale was in the form of a MOA in which Gavino Santiago and broker Monteclaros sold to Ronnie M. Malta et al. on Nov. 16, 2007, 1,102 sq m of land covered by TCT 211094 for P1,150 per sq m, on the dubious condition that the property could not be validly transferred to a third party without the consent of Santiago and Monteclaros, which cast a doubt on the authenticity of the transaction.

The illegal median valuation of P600 per sq m for the alleged 14 parcels of land used for the relocation site by the Provincial Appraisal Committee in October 2008 appears to be only a rubber stamp on the deal cut between Maliksi and Monteclaros months before the PAC began its deliberations.

While Maliksi has appealed the disallowance of over P26 million of funds already spent, sources say it doesn’t look like the Commission on Audit (COA) will relent. Why should it? According to the COA, the illegal deed of sale the Cavite government signed with the vendors provided that the purchase price was already net of taxes, fees, expenses, brokers’ commission, tenants’ disturbance compensation and damages.

The illegal payment of over P26 million was just a simple case of double dipping. The COA is holding Maliksi responsible for approving the payment, and former provincial accountant Doris Ensomo for certifying that the allotment was obligated for the purpose and that the documents were complete. Their broker, Monteclaros, received P17 million in illegal cash payment. The COA also found that Monteclaros benefited from the provincial government’s payment of taxes amounting to P9.4 million because she should have paid the taxes on behalf of the vendors.

There is every reason to reverse the illegal deed of sale that sold the steeply overpriced agricultural lands to government. The illegal deed of sale not only freed vendors and brokers alike from any tax payment, it also made government pay extra for brokers’ commission, alongside other fees and expenses that include tenants’ disturbance compensation and damages—even though most of the agricultural lands were covered by Emancipation Patents that prohibited tenancy arrangements.

A case for plunder starts at only P50 million. The proper venue to resolve the issues is a congressional fact-finding investigation, as a culpable violation of the law and a major ongoing national government project are involved here; or at least an immediate investigation by the Department of Justice or the Ombudsman, hopefully assisted by the COA. The people, whose hard-earned tax money paid for the relocation project, have a right to know if they were indeed scammed.

While we’re at it, perhaps Maliksi should explain how his trusted former provincial government lieutenants ended up as LRTA officials.

Doris Ensomo, the provincial accountant, became the chief of staff of the LRTA administrator who is Rafael Rodriguez, former board member in Maliksi’s provincial government. He had lawyered the P500-million MOA between LRTA and the Cavite government.

Rodriguez resigned recently from the LRTA to resume his career in politics, but only after he allocated an additional P456,601,600 to construct the 1,820 homes that the Cavite government failed to build under the MOA.

Maliksi has nominated Joseph Alan Dilay, former LRTA consultant and contractor, to replace Rodriguez. Why Dilay? Is it possible Maliksi will use his big railway building connections to bag the entire P61.53 billion LRT 1 Cavite Extension Project?

Insiders say that Dilay has been bragging that his appointment is in the bag. If true, his appointment will be lethal to President Aquino’s war on corruption. Also, it will trigger intense scrutiny of the LRTA and the upcoming public bidding for the LRT Line 1 Cavite Extension Project.