Syjuco employing 'squid tactics'--Mejorada
The dumptruck formerly owned by Tawo kag Duta
sa Kauswagan Foundation which now belongs to
the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada downplayed the counter-affidavit of former second district congressman and now Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) administrator Augusto Syjuco in the Ombudsman raps relative to the alleged rigging of a P12-million heavy equipment deal sometime in 2004.
Mejorada said Syjuco is merely employing "squid tactics" in attributing personal and political reasons to the filing of the complaint.
Mejorada accused Syjuco of duping the government by selling several heavy equipment formerly owned by Tawo kag Duta sa Kauswagan Foundation to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) via his dummies.
Syjuco denied he had a hand in the alleged anomaly, saying the foundation (Tawo kag Duta Foundation) has a personality separate and distinct from its members.
Syjuco is the chairman of the foundation. His wife, incumbent 2nd district Rep. Judy J. Syjuco, is the treasurer.
In his counter-affidavit, Syjuco tried to seek refuge in the approval given to the transaction by officials of the DPWH, Department of Budget and Management and the Commission on Audit.
"If the Commission on Audit raised no question on the propriety of the transaction in question, can Manuel P. Mejorada now has (sic) the competence to question the transaction? Can Manuel P. Mejorada be more 'popish than the pope', so to speak?" he asked.
He added that just because the heavy equipment and trucks were formerly owned by his foundation, it does not necessarily follow that the purchase became tainted with irregularities.
"If the foundation sold these equipment and trucks to other business entities which eventually sold them to AZURE Builders Corporation, then there was nothing irregular as it has that prerogative to acquire and dispose of properties," he argued.
Mejorada disagreed.
These statements made by Syjuco only served to strengthen the case because there is no longer any dispute on the issue of the equipment having been owned by the foundation, Mejorada said.
"The evidence would show that ownership of the trucks was never transferred to Azure Builders Corp., one of the two winning bidders," he said.
The Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Angeles City reported that one of the trucks was registered to a certain Cecilio Mamungay as of its certification dated December 9, 2005.
The truck registered in the Mamungay also turned out to be previously owned by Tawo kag Duta sa Kauswagan Foundation.
Iloilo LTO chief Anuel Bonite also issued a certification dated November 25, 2005 that another truck in the transaction was still registered in the name of the foundation.
"In short, there was never really a real transfer of ownership, and this only bolsters my case that the transaction was a drama, a conspiracy to benefit Syjuco," Mejorada said.