12 February 2009
The World Bank Country Director for the Philippines has been ordered to appear before a Philippine Senate inquiry into a corruption scandal involving a multi-million dollar road project.
Source: Agence France-Presse
Philippines summons World Bank official
MANILA (AFP) — The head of the World Bank in the Philippines was Thursday ordered to appear before a Senate inquiry into a corruption scandal involving a multi-million dollar road project.
Selected pages of a purported World Bank report leaked to media organisations here have implicated President Gloria Arroyo's husband in "bid fixing" -- a charge he rejects as "baseless."
Senator Miriam Santiago, who is heading the inquiry, said she had written to World Bank country director Bert Hofman asking him to hand over a copy of the internal report blacklisting three Filipino and four Chinese firms it accused of bid rigging.
"Mr. Hofman must come here (to the Senate) or else we'll cite him for contempt," she said, warning that the Senate could jail Hofman until he cooperates.
Hofman's office later issued a statement stressing that the "referral report" which summarised the bank's collusion findings has been shared with the Philippine Ombudsman, a special prosecutor that handles corruption cases against government officials.
It did not say whether this report was the same as the one supposedly leaked to sections of the Filipino media.
"The World Bank has offered follow-up assistance to the Ombudsman in conducting her investigations," the World Bank country office said, stressing that it was now up to the prosecutor "to determine whether laws of the Philippines had been violated."
The statement did not refer to the Senate summons for Hofman.
It has been alleged in the purported report that Arroyo's husband received bribe money from one of the Filipino firms to influence the bidding.
Jose Miguel Arroyo, a lawyer, has written to the Senate saying he is being used as a "side show" by his detractors.
Hofman for his part supposedly replied that "our report cannot be shared with the Senate."
"How dare Mr. Hofman say that there is corruption in the Philippines (and refuse) to give us at least the original document?" Santiago said.
"According to the rules of court that is the best evidence," she said.
Santiago also accused the World Bank of "double speak" by charging corruption but not cooperating in the probe and called the institution "a squatter in Philippine territory."
The World Bank last month banned China Road and Bridge Corp. from bidding for projects it funds for eight years, China State Construction Corp. and China Wu Yi Co. Ltd. was banned for six years, and China Geo-Engineering Corp. for five years.
Philippine firm E.C. de Luna Construction Corp. and its sole proprietor, Eduardo de Luna, were both barred indefinitely -- the first permanent ban since 2004, the bank said.
The other Philippine firms, Cavite Ideal International Construction and Development Corp. and CM Pancho Construction Inc., were each banned for four years.
The bank said the firms were found to have colluded in the bidding for a 33 million dollar road project.
More information:
Analysis: World Bank Report, February 13, 2008 (GMANews.TV)