PROF.PASION (PHILIPPINES)
09-03-2007, 11:19 PM
DoJ exec charged over RP real estate deal in Japan
By Benjamin B. Pulta
09/01/2007
A senior Justice official has been charged with graft before the Ombudsman in connection with supposed anomalies in the implementation of a multimillion-peso project for the development of prime real estate owned by the Philippine government in Japan.
Charged for alleged violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act or Republic Act 3019 was Justice Undersecretary Ernesto Pineda.
Also named respondents were Department of Finance Undersecretary and Chairman of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Gaudencio Mendoza Jr., Deputy Executive Secretary Manuel Gaite and Department of Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Bashir Rasuman.
All are members of the BAC for the lease-development of the Nampeidai Machi, Shibuya-ku property owned by the Philippine government in Japan.
Pineda is in hot water for issuing a memoranda siding with Masaichi Tsuchiya, the representative of the Japanese company Nagayama Taisei Consortium (NTC), which won the bidding for the contract.
Pineda supposedly sided with Tsuchiya even after the latter’s principals in NTC discovered and informed the Philippine government of underground dealings by Tsuchiya which they said would defraud the winning bidder, NTC, and the Philippines.
“Such actions of respondents (Pineda, et al.) caused undue injury not only to the winning bidder, Nagayama Teisei Consortium as they are presently being deprived of the right to handle the project, but also the government of the Philippines as this controversy has caused delay in the implementation of the project, depriving the government with potential income from the development,” the charge said.
The complainants were David Diwa of a group calling itself the National Labor Union and Albino Capidos of the consumer group Movement for Responsible Enterprise.
Despite having informed the Philippine government of Tsuchiya’s plans, the BAC issued resolutions which supplanted the protection earlier granted the protection granted to NTC and reinstating authority for Tsuchiya to register the superficies in his own name.
The resolutions, the complaint said, “reflects the clear intention of the respondents (Pineda, et al.) to give unwarranted preference to the agent Tsuchiya over the principal NTC.”
The complaint claims that “position papers submitted to the BAC by Undersecretary Pineda in a letter dated April 26, 2007, and memoranda dated May 8, June 18 and June 25 of this year show the intent of the respondents to give unwarranted preference to Tsuchiya as the documents reveal conclusions unfounded under the existing facts and the law.”
The memoranda Pineda issued insist on the registration of the superficies (land rights) in Tsuchiya’s name, and refuse to recognize Nagayama’s standing as principal, being the managing partner of Nagayama Teisei Consortium.
“Such explicit acts by Undersecretary Pineda and Deputy Executive Secretary Gaite exhibit their intention to give unwarranted preference to Tsuchiya, which defeat the results of the public bidding. Clearly, insisting that the superficies be registered in Tsuchiya’s name despite his confirmed unscrupulous actions allow Tsuchiya to defraud his principal NTC and the Republic of the Philippines..,” the complaint said.
“The more prudent move should have been to amend the contract to express the true will of the parties and implement the result of the public bidding. In fact, the principal, NTC, as the other contracting party, manifested its willingness to amend annexes to the agreement,” it added.
The public bidding under the Government Procurement Reform Act (Republic Act 9184) was held by the BAC and the NTC was awarded the winning bidder through a BAC resolution dated June 16, 2005.
Pursuant to the order, a Notice of Award was issued to Manuel Camson, the Philippine representative of Nagayama in the public bidding.
But before the proper documentation for the award can be signed by the parties, the representative of NTC resigned. NTC, through its lead partner, Masahiro Nagayama then issued an exclusive and irrevocable power of attorney in favor of Masaichi Tsuchiya to represent NTC in the execution of the Service Development Agreement.
The SDA provided that the government of the Philippines agrees to establish on the property in favor of the developer (the winning bidder), immediately after the execution of the agreement, a 53-year Fixed term superficiaries.
Superficiaries refer to the right to use the land for the purpose of introducing improvements thereon and owning the same for a definite period of time.
In order to implement the provision, the Philippine Embassy in Japan shall issue a Power of Attorney authorizing the developer to cause the registration of the superficies.
The superficies should have been registered in the name of NTC or its representative Tsuchiya.
After the execution of the SDA, the registration of the fixed term superficies was allowed. But NTC through Nagayama and the DFA then discovered a number of anomalous communications made by the representative,Tsuchiya.
Tsuchiya, the complaint said, made dealings as late as June of this year with the intention to treat the property as his own and selling it to third parties, depriving NTC of the right to develop the Nampeidai property for the government of the Philippines.
“The respondents kept a blind eye on the possible consequences of the successful registration when they passed BAC resolutions dated April 17, 2007 and June 26, 2007, showing manifest partiality and evident bad faith in favoring Tsuchiya,” the complaint moreover said.
By Benjamin B. Pulta
09/01/2007
A senior Justice official has been charged with graft before the Ombudsman in connection with supposed anomalies in the implementation of a multimillion-peso project for the development of prime real estate owned by the Philippine government in Japan.
Charged for alleged violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act or Republic Act 3019 was Justice Undersecretary Ernesto Pineda.
Also named respondents were Department of Finance Undersecretary and Chairman of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Gaudencio Mendoza Jr., Deputy Executive Secretary Manuel Gaite and Department of Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Bashir Rasuman.
All are members of the BAC for the lease-development of the Nampeidai Machi, Shibuya-ku property owned by the Philippine government in Japan.
Pineda is in hot water for issuing a memoranda siding with Masaichi Tsuchiya, the representative of the Japanese company Nagayama Taisei Consortium (NTC), which won the bidding for the contract.
Pineda supposedly sided with Tsuchiya even after the latter’s principals in NTC discovered and informed the Philippine government of underground dealings by Tsuchiya which they said would defraud the winning bidder, NTC, and the Philippines.
“Such actions of respondents (Pineda, et al.) caused undue injury not only to the winning bidder, Nagayama Teisei Consortium as they are presently being deprived of the right to handle the project, but also the government of the Philippines as this controversy has caused delay in the implementation of the project, depriving the government with potential income from the development,” the charge said.
The complainants were David Diwa of a group calling itself the National Labor Union and Albino Capidos of the consumer group Movement for Responsible Enterprise.
Despite having informed the Philippine government of Tsuchiya’s plans, the BAC issued resolutions which supplanted the protection earlier granted the protection granted to NTC and reinstating authority for Tsuchiya to register the superficies in his own name.
The resolutions, the complaint said, “reflects the clear intention of the respondents (Pineda, et al.) to give unwarranted preference to the agent Tsuchiya over the principal NTC.”
The complaint claims that “position papers submitted to the BAC by Undersecretary Pineda in a letter dated April 26, 2007, and memoranda dated May 8, June 18 and June 25 of this year show the intent of the respondents to give unwarranted preference to Tsuchiya as the documents reveal conclusions unfounded under the existing facts and the law.”
The memoranda Pineda issued insist on the registration of the superficies (land rights) in Tsuchiya’s name, and refuse to recognize Nagayama’s standing as principal, being the managing partner of Nagayama Teisei Consortium.
“Such explicit acts by Undersecretary Pineda and Deputy Executive Secretary Gaite exhibit their intention to give unwarranted preference to Tsuchiya, which defeat the results of the public bidding. Clearly, insisting that the superficies be registered in Tsuchiya’s name despite his confirmed unscrupulous actions allow Tsuchiya to defraud his principal NTC and the Republic of the Philippines..,” the complaint said.
“The more prudent move should have been to amend the contract to express the true will of the parties and implement the result of the public bidding. In fact, the principal, NTC, as the other contracting party, manifested its willingness to amend annexes to the agreement,” it added.
The public bidding under the Government Procurement Reform Act (Republic Act 9184) was held by the BAC and the NTC was awarded the winning bidder through a BAC resolution dated June 16, 2005.
Pursuant to the order, a Notice of Award was issued to Manuel Camson, the Philippine representative of Nagayama in the public bidding.
But before the proper documentation for the award can be signed by the parties, the representative of NTC resigned. NTC, through its lead partner, Masahiro Nagayama then issued an exclusive and irrevocable power of attorney in favor of Masaichi Tsuchiya to represent NTC in the execution of the Service Development Agreement.
The SDA provided that the government of the Philippines agrees to establish on the property in favor of the developer (the winning bidder), immediately after the execution of the agreement, a 53-year Fixed term superficiaries.
Superficiaries refer to the right to use the land for the purpose of introducing improvements thereon and owning the same for a definite period of time.
In order to implement the provision, the Philippine Embassy in Japan shall issue a Power of Attorney authorizing the developer to cause the registration of the superficies.
The superficies should have been registered in the name of NTC or its representative Tsuchiya.
After the execution of the SDA, the registration of the fixed term superficies was allowed. But NTC through Nagayama and the DFA then discovered a number of anomalous communications made by the representative,Tsuchiya.
Tsuchiya, the complaint said, made dealings as late as June of this year with the intention to treat the property as his own and selling it to third parties, depriving NTC of the right to develop the Nampeidai property for the government of the Philippines.
“The respondents kept a blind eye on the possible consequences of the successful registration when they passed BAC resolutions dated April 17, 2007 and June 26, 2007, showing manifest partiality and evident bad faith in favoring Tsuchiya,” the complaint moreover said.