EXPLAINER: What happened in the 2019 SEA Games controversy

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said Monday that it may issue a subpoena to Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as part of its investigation into alleged irregularities surrounding the Philippines’ hosting of the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

The NBI is investigating the allegedly anomalous procurement of projects related to the SEA Games after reviewing new information and documents involving the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC), which Cayetano chaired.

Among the projects under investigation are sports facilities built for the SEA Games at New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.

Here is how the controversy unfolded.

New Clark City is a flagship project of the state-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), covering about 9,450 hectares.

It houses the National Government Administrative Center (NGAC) and the New Clark City Sports Hub.

The New Clark City development included a 20,000-seat athletics stadium, a 2,000-seat aquatics center, a warm-up track oval, an athletes' village, government housing, an integrated disaster response operations center, and a 1.4-kilometer river park corridor.

According to the New Clark City website, infrastructure developer MTD Philippines and the BCDA built the facilities in just 18 months.

However, the Commission on Audit (COA) said the BCDA’s arrangement for the construction of the NGAC and SEA Games facilities was “prejudicial” to the government’s interests.

The COA said the project cost rose to P12.695 billion after the BCDA added P8.5 billion for the construction of the sports facilities to its P4.18-billion joint venture agreement with Malaysian firm MTD Capital Berhad.

Due to financing charges, including interest, as well as variation costs, the cost of the sports complex increased from P8.5 billion to P9.535 billion.

The BCDA, however, maintained that the deal had a legal basis.

In 2020, the Office of the Ombudsman filed graft and malversation charges against then-BCDA president and current Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon, along with three others involved in the joint venture.

On July 16, the Ombudsman said the charges against Dizon had been dismissed in 2021 due to “insufficiency of evidence.”

Speaking to reporters on Monday, NBI Director Melvin Matibag said documents obtained by investigators showed that Cayetano had been appointed interim chairman of PHISGOC by the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC).

Matibag said Cayetano was allegedly instructed to immediately incorporate PHISGOC but was not listed among its directors, raising questions about his authority within the organization after its incorporation.

“Ang mangyari dapat, 'yung binuo na PHISGOC will elect their set of officers. So 'yun 'yung question diyan, ayun 'yung kailangan ipaliwanag,” Matibag said.

(What should have happened was that the newly established PHISGOC would elect its own set of officers. So that is the question that needs to be explained.) — MCG, GMA News