Rojas seeks Capitol, House probe on ILECO III bribery yarn
Anomalous and a case of social injustice.
Such summed up yesterday’s sentiments of Fifth District Board Member Jett Rojas on the highly-controversial power purchase agreement of an electric cooperative here.
First time to be officially addressed, Rojas in a privilege speech spoke extensively as he laid down details gathered involving the Iloilo Electric Cooperative (Ileco) III and a private company, the Applied Research Technologies Philippines Incorporated (Artech).
Artech, Rojas said, is to supply electric power for 25 years at a generation charge of P6.50 per kilowatt hour.
“Where is the irregularity in this decision?,” he began. “Firstly, it was alleged that Artech was a non-participant in the bidding process… Secondly, the cost of power generation charged by Artech is said to be very costly and in fact, above the bid price of qualified bidders… Third, is there truth to the allegations of bribery of the president and members of the Board of Directors each for a total amount of P150,000 with the supposed two-time payment cleverly effected before and after the signing of the contract?”
Rojas also raised questions on the supposed haste of Ileco III president “when he has 60 days to study and review?”
“Last and most importantly, where were the member-consumers not consulted on the matter since the investment decision will eventually accrue to either their benefit or disadvantage?,” Rojas continued. “….it would seem that the Board failed to exercise prudence in its decision-making responsibility and this is a very serious matter indeed.”
As such, Rojas demanded for disclosure and transparency on the deal stressing that member-consumers “deserve to know the unsullied truth and those who were involved in the supposed anomaly once ascertained must be held responsible for the consequences of their actions.”
Rojas then urged the SP body to conduct investigation alongside a similar plea to elevate the matter before Congress as he called for a congressional inquiry.