FB photograb
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- “Congtractor yan eh… People didn’t believe that there would be accountability whatsoever in violating the law, harap-harapan kasi nga walang manghuhuli. Bawal iyan eh. It’s a prohibited activity, it’s a conflict of interest found in so many laws on corruption so mahirap na makatakas diyan.”
A mouthful there from Ombudsman
Jesus Crispin Remulla on Nov. 20, confirming that former House Senior Deputy
Speaker Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. is among lawmakers being investigated for
alleged involvement in the flood control anomalies.
“Congtractor” is a recent
portmanteau referencing congressmen who also own or manage construction
companies that have secured contracts with the Department of Public Works and
Highways.
In the case of the former
Pampanga 3rd District congressman, a bigtime infrastructure
development player bears his very name -- A.D. Gonzales Jr. Construction &
Trading Co., Inc.
Of the Top 10 contractors
that snagged the lion’s share of DPWH flood control contracts in Pampanga
culled from the “Sumbong
sa Pangulo” website last August, A.D. Gonzales Construction and Trading Co.
Inc. ranked Top 5 but was awarded the largest funded single flood control
projects in the province, to wit:
1)
the
Abacan River diking and slope protection project in Mexico, Pampanga at a cost
of P270.194 million reported completed on March 6, 2024; and
2)
flood
control works on the Pasig-Potrero River and the San Fernando-Bacolor section
of the San Fernando-Sto. Tomas-Minalin Tail Dike at a cost of P257.255 million
and completed on June 5, 2024. (Erroneously placed in La Union in the sumbong
website).
One more
project listed under A.D. Gonzales Construction is another Abacan River diking,
also in Mexico but distinguished as Phase I, with a cost of P96.496 million and
completed on Nov. 23, 2023.
It was
precisely these projects that haled Gonzales to the Office of the Ombudsman in
September 2023.
Sto. Cristo barangay chair Terence Napao shows copy of complaint.
Complainant Terence Napao,
chairman of Barangay Sto. Cristo, and president of the Association of Barangay
Captains in Mexico, Pampanga alleged that Gonzales and DPWH officials
“conspired to corner” P611,577,718.40 worth of flood mitigating projects which
were awarded to the construction company bearing the congressman’s name and
with business address adjacent to the residence of the then-deputy speaker in
the capital city.
Family enterprise
In his complaint, Napao
claimed that Gonzales owned 77% of the shares of A.D. Gonzales Jr. Construction
and Trading Co. Inc. until 2015, when he held a 25% share.
According to Napao,
Gonzales’ son Aurelio Brenz, then a councilor now vice mayor of the capital
city, became the company’s president and majority shareholder, while the
congressman’s daughter, then-provincial board member now Pampanga 3rd
District Rep. Alyssa Michaela Gonzales, sat as secretary and treasurer.
All in the family. At the proclamation of 2025 poll winners: CSF VM Brenz, Pampanga board member Mymy, former House SDS Dong, Pampanga 3rd District congresswoman Mica. File photo
Another Gonzales son, Aurelio
III, is the company’s vice president while another daughter, Aurelio Michaline is
a director along with the congressman’s elder sister Zenaida Quiambao.
“Any right-minded citizen
would easily figure out why and how a senior deputy speaker, a city councilor
and a bokal (provincial board member) owning a construction company and with
DPWH officials under their beck and call were favored with hundreds of millions
worth of government contracts,” Napao alleged at the time. “With huge projects
such as these, it would be the height of naiveté not to sense a collusion
between the congressman’s company and the DPWH.”
The Office of the
Ombudsman dismissed the case in 2023.
Vindicated
Feeling vindicated by the
turn of events in the exposè of flood control anomalies and the attendant
public outcry last August-September, Napao resolved to refile with the Office
of the Ombudsman the case for violations of Section 3 (e and h) of RA 3019 (the
Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act), and the “Possession of Prohibited
Interest by a Public Officer” from Article 216 of the Revised Penal Code against
former Gonzales Jr. and members of his family who comprise the A.D. Gonzales
Jr. Construction & Trading Co. Inc.
Napao said the complaint is
unchanged from the one he filed earlier, asserting that the facts have not lost
weight despite its dismissal.
“These projects are
glaring examples of conflict of interest in public service, manipulated to
favor the family-owned business of then-Congressman Gonzales, a known super-rich
contractor in Pampanga,” he alleged.
Rehashed
“I recall that a case
against me involving the same projects filed before the same Ombudsman was
dismissed sometime in 2023 for lack of merit. It appears to be a rehashed and
recycled subject, if any.”
So was quoted Gonzales by
the media on Nov. 20 citing a statement he reportedly sent to House of
Representatives reporters.
“While I welcome any
inquiry on the matter, I am not aware of an ongoing Ombudsman formal
investigation against me on prohibited interests,” added Gonzales.
Aside from Gonzales,
Remulla said investigations are underway for nine other politicians
moonlighting as government contractors.
“Isa-isa yan. Kailangan
hihimayin mo kasi maraming magaling magtago e. Marami namang hindi na nagtago,
talagang ginawa na lang. Yung (gumawa) na lang muna ang unahin natin, tinatawag
ngang low-hanging fruit,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment