Is the Supreme Court ruling that ordered the Cebu provincial government to pay the contractor WT Construction Inc. for additional works done on the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) a vindication for former Cebu governor Gwendolyn Garcia?
The money claim deals with civil liability. Nothing in the order deals with issues of overpricing or shortcuts in procedure.
Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III took reporters on a a guided tour of the dilapidated CICC and asked them with dry humor: “Are we going to pay for this?”
The province already did pay the contractor P257 million for extra work claimed during Garcia’s tenure in 2009 but that payment didn’t secure prior approval of the Provincial Board. This is one aspect subject of an ongoing investigation by the Ombudsman into allegations that the structure was overpriced and built in haste.
What the Supreme Court now requires the Capitol to pay is six percent interest of the contractor’s money claim, a computation that grows over time, or about P30 million.
The collection case that reached the Supreme Court is not about criminal liability of the elected official who had the project implemented and paid for.
Davide is forced to be consistent. He’s called the building a “monument of corruption”, and can’t change tune now when the additional works on the CICC, built for Cebu’s hosting of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2007, didn’t secure approval from the Provincial Board (PB).
Try as she might, Gwen, who is seeking reelection as Cebu’s 3rd district congresswoman, can’t slug it out with her successor.
That’s the job of her brother Winston, the new head of One Cebu and its gubernatorial bet, who agrees that the CICC should be repaired.
He pointed to the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), built during the Marcos regime, as proof that even a dictator’s pet project is government property that needs to be preserved.
Davide won’t touch the building but he’s allowed an anti-Marcos group to hang a humongous banner “Never Again” atop the CICC, so comparisons with the CCP end right there.
While the Garcias can use the CICC’s dismal state to hound Davide for being a poor steward of government property, they can’t dodge the charges of overpricing and substandard quality.
Built at a price of almost P1 billion, we paid way too much for the modestly designed facility. But taxpayer’s money that went to build it shouldn’t be further wasted.
Let the national government take it off the Capitol’s hands. It’s a good compromise. Plans for the Department of Trade and Industry to rehabilitate it for use as an exhibit hall for exporters would bring the CICC closer to one of its original roles.
Leave the determination of liability and issue of overpricing in the hands of the Ombudsman and Sandiganbayan.
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