Slippery former DPWH exec a veteran of controversies
By ARIES RUFO, abs-cbnnews.com/Newsbreak | 02/27/2009 6:28 PM
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Former public works Secretary Florante Soriquez and his patron President Arroyo have something in common: They are a magnet of controversies.
Soriquez is being dragged in the alleged bidding of foreign-funded road projects and has a string of scandals tucked under his belt.
A career official who rose from the ranks, Soriquez quietly left government service in 2007 amidst all the graft accusations hurled against him.
He has denied being close to the First Family, specifically to First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, yet he seemed to enjoy protection and privilege from the powers-that-be.
Soriquez’s ties with Mrs. Arroyo go way back to the 90s when the government was dealing with the aftereffects of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption.
She was then chair of the Mt. Pinatubo Commission and he was Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) director for Region 3. He was also concurrent project implementor of the Pinatubo Commission's lahar megadikes and levees.
He was later charged before the Sandiganbayan for giving unwarranted benefits to Atlanta construction firm in connection with the P2.7 billion megadike project that resulted to P38 million losses to government.
Because of defective design, the dike collapsed in August 1996 at the height of lahar flows.
The megadike case and the recent allegations of collusion in DPWH projects involving construction firms, were not the only controversies that hounded Soriquez.
String of scandals
In a letter to the editor published in Philippine Star last February 11, Soriquez claimed he and Mr. Arroyo are not close. “I hardly met him and saw him very seldom and only on special occasions. He never invited me to a meeting,” he said. The letter was triggered by the World Bank report linking him to the mafia behind the collusive schemes in the DPWH.
But Newsbreak sources say it was Mr. Arroyo who was instrumental in Soriquez's appointment as acting DPWH secretary. Soriquez held the post for two years.
We also found out that Soriquez contributed P600,000 to Mrs. Arroyo’s vice-presidential bid in 1998, almost half of his declared networth of P1.6 million at that time.
While in the DPWH helm from April 2003 to February 2005, Soriquez faced allegations of corruption, misuse of public funds, and bidding anomalies.
In March 2004, former Land Transportation Office chief Mariano Santiago filed a complaint against Mrs. Arroyo, Soriquez and other government officials before the Ombudsman for the alleged illegal use of P1.4 billion peso road user’s tax.
The money was allegedly used to promote Arroyo’ presidential bid through the Kalsada Natin Alagaan Natin project. The complaint was dismissed.
In February 2005, DPWH regional directors signed a manifesto calling for reforms in the DPWH. A few days later, Agusan del Sur Rep. Rodolfo Plaza delivered a privilege speech accusing Soriquez of demanding kickbacks not only from DPWH projects but also from district engineers.
Plaza said Soriquez demanded 5 percent commission in foreign-funded projects and P50,000 grease money from district officers.
At the same time in the Senate, Senator Panfilo Lacson filed a resolution seeking an investigation into anomalous DPWH transactions involving the road user’s tax and an alleged P4 billion overprice in the award of foreign-assisted public works projects.
Lacson said the DPWH under Soriquez, conducted public biddings and awarded 20 foreign-assisted projects totaling P18.591 billion, when the approved budget for the contract or ABC only amounted to P14.534 billion. (The ABC is the upper ceiling or limit for the bid process, based on the approved agency estimate. The Supreme Court, in a ruling dated Feb. 2007 has ruled that projects that are foreign funded are not covered by the limitations of the ABC).
The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) also slapped Soriquez, along with officials of the water regulator Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), with graft charges before the Ombudsman. VACC alleged that Soriquez and the other officials manipulated the bidding requirements of a P200 million water project to favor one bidder in 2003. VACC chair Dante Jimenez says the case remains pending at the Ombudsman.
WB probe
Noticeably, it was during Soriquez’s term as acting secretary that the WB first took notice of collusion in the bidding of the road projects it financed. One of those interviewed by WB investigators described Soriquez’s appointment to the DPWH, which has consistently topped corruption surveys, as "for the 'worse."
One of the WB team's interviewees who had personal knowledge of the DPWH bidding process named Soriquez as among those who were on the take.
In October 2003, months after being appointed, Soriquez was ordered suspended by the Sandiganbayan over the megadike project scam. Two of the Sandiganbayan justices who ordered his suspension—-Minita Chico--Nazario and Diosdado Peralta—are now members of the Supreme Court.
Yet, Soriquez was able to avoid serving out the suspension order against him by bringing the case to the Supreme Court. Despite the Sandiganbayan move, he was able to cling to his post.
It was only when Rep. Plaza came out with his privilege speech that Arroyo pulled out Soriquez and replaced him with Hermogenes Ebdane. Soriquez was relegated to his undersecretary post.
Arroyo had ordered the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) to look into Plaza’s accusations. But it appeared Soriquez managed to duck this one, too.
We called up PAGC and asked what had happened to its probe but its records division refused to disclose any information on the ground that its proceedings are confidential.
But we learned from DPWH sources that Soriquez was cleared by PAGC, enabling him to return to the DPWH.
He left the DPWH without fanfare.
