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HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARING

CT Leoncio’s owner says her ‘liaison’ deals directly with firm of Diokno’s in-laws


The owner of CT Leoncio Construction and Trading told the House Committee on Rules that she does not transact directly with the company of Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno’s in-laws, which supposedly bagged contracts of winning bidders of government projects.

Consolacion Leoncio said her “liaison,” Francis Clemente, is the one doing business on her behalf with Aremar Construction Corp.

“Ang talagang nakakilala diyan ay ‘yung liaison ko na si Francis Clemente. Lumapit lang ang Aremar at sinabi na kung pwede mag-JV (joint venture) kami,” Leoncio said.

The House Committee on Rules is conducting a hearing on supposed anomalies in the proposed 2019 national budget.

“Ako naman, ang talagang kausap ko diyan ay ‘yung liaison ko po. Kaya sabi ko wala namang masama, kung makakatulong ako para lumaki ang sales nila, ‘yun lang,” Leoncio said.

She noted that Clemente is also responsible for submitting their bids and preparing the bid documents.

Earlier during the hearing, however, Andaya showed what he claimed was proof that Aremar Construction Corp. was actually the company that was winning contracts for infrastructure projects from the winning bidders.

Andaya presented a deposit slip from a winning contractor showing that around P11 million was deposited to Aremar Construction’s  bank account.

“This gives credence to a report intimated to us by several contractors. Hindi raw totoo ang mga nakapaloob na technical details sa bidding documents. Kailangan lang ‘yun para makuha ang kontrata,” Andaya claimed.

“Kapag nakuha na ang kontrata, ipapasa na ng winning bidder, usually a triple ‘A’ contractor. Ang kontrata ibibigay naman sa local contractor na pinapaboran o dikit sa isang opisyal na nag-release ng pondo. May komisyon lamang na tatanggapin ang winning bidder,” he further claimed.

Aremar Construction is owned by Maria Minez Hamor, daughter of Edwin and Ester Hamor. Edwin is running for reelection as mayor of Casiguran, Sorsogon, according to the lawmaker.

Ester, the incumbent vice governor of Sorsogon, is the mother of Jojo Sicat, the husband of Diokno’s daughter Charlotte, Andaya noted.

But Leoncio’s lawyer, Rafael Madrid, said they had no knowledge of Diokno’s connections with the owners of Aremar, when CT Leoncio entered into a joint venture with Aremar.

Madrid noted that Leoncio trusted Aremar, but not necessarily because of their connections. “Nalaman na lang natin through the honorable chairman (Andaya) sa kanyang privilege speech,” Madrid told reporters in an ambush interview.

There was “somehow an inkling” on the part of CT Leoncio regarding Aremar’s connection, “and Aremar pala has connections with Diokno, the lawyer noted. “Pero unfair naman to jump into conclusion na kaya nagka-project si CT Leoncio at si Aremar dahil kay Diokno.”

Andaya alleged that CT Leoncio is simply receiving commissions from government contracts, considering that the owner is  “detached” from the dealings of her company.

“Kitang-kita naman sa galaw niya na ginagamit lang ang kanyang lisensya at nangungumisyon na lang siya. Sa dami naman ng contractor sa buong Pilipinas ay halata naman na hindi niya alam ’yung status ng mga projects na napasukan niya,” the lawmaker noted.

He said that Leoncio is liable for the supposedly anomalous transactions of her company by virtue of command responsibility.

“She will be liable because she signed for it under oath. Kaya nga ang recommendation ko ay mag-usap sila nung liaison officer niya dahil mapapasubo siya nang ‘di oras nang wala siyang kamuwang-muwang,” the lawmaker noted.

Andaya ordered the committee to subpoena Clemente for the next hearing on the matter. —VDS, GMA News

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