Hontiveros opposes proposal to toss SEA Games deal probe to Ombudsman

Senator Risa Hontiveros on Monday said there is a need for legislative investigation on the alleged anomalous joint venture of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority and a Malaysian firm for the construction of the sports facilities for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

This was after Senate President Vicente Sotto III opined that the Office of the Ombudsman is the proper body to probe the issue.

Hontiveros insisted that Congress should "step in" to provide clarity and prevent projects that are being dressed up as joint ventures to "side step public bidding requirements."

"Huwag nating daanin sa pagdadabog o ipasa na lang basta-basta sa Ombudsman. Dapat itong imbestigahan dahil napakaraming bahid na nadehado tayo, at para maisaayos at mabigyang-linaw ang batas ukol sa mga Joint Venture," she said in a statement.

"The Senate should not be prevented from doing its job."

The decision of the heads of the Senate blue ribbon and Sports committees, to whom her Senate Resolution No. 567 has been referred, "should not be pre-empted," Hontiveros also said.

"It should be left to their sound judgment as to when and how an inquiry should be conducted," she added.

The opposition senator noted that while certain aspects of the issue are already pending before the Office of the Ombudsman, joint ventures involving the government "remain a legal gray area governed by multiple, and possibly conflicting, sets of rules: the 2013 NEDA Rules on JVs, the charters of GOCCs (government-owned and controlled corporations), and even rules formulated by Local Government Units."

Last week, Hontiveros pointed out that the Malaysian firm MTD Capital Berhad did not shell out any capital for the SEA Games sports facilities under its joint venture with the BCDA.

She said the project was funded by a loan taken out by MTD Capital Berhad from the Development Bank of the Philippines only a month after it inked the joint venture deal with the BCDA.

Hontiveros added that the BCDA then used taxpayers' money to pay for MTD's loan.

On the other hand, the BCDA maintained that its deal with MTD was above board and stressed that the Asian Development Bank has advised that a joint venture agreement would be the "most advantageous" arrangement for the government in the construction of the sports facilities.

"Sa mga nagsasabing aprubado ng Asian Development Bank ang project, kailan pa naging regulator ang ADB? Has the ADB usurped COA's (Commission on Audit) mandate?" Hontiveros asked in return.

The COA has said that the construction of the New Clark City sports facilities could have been more favorable to the government if the project was procured through Republic Act 9184 or the Procurement Law rather than incorporating it in a joint venture agreement. —KBK, GMA News