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THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Monday said it has filed before the Department of Justice a case against Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) General Manager Steve Dicdican and 15 others, including 11 foreign nationals, for Anti-Dummy Law provisions.
Aside from Dicdican, named respondents in the complaint were GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC) Filipino officers Manuel Louie Ferrer, Edgar Saavedra, Oliver Tan and JZ Dela Cruz.
The foreign nationals named in the complaint were eight Indian nationals Srivinas Bommidala, Vivek Singhai, Ravi Bhatnagar, Ravishankar Saravu, Sudarshan MD, Kumar Gaurav, Magesh Nambiar and Rajesh Madan.
The other foreigners mentioned in the complaint were Singaporean national P. Sripathy, Ghanaian Andrew Acquaah-Harrison and Irish national Michael Lenane.
NBI Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Director Eric B. Distor said the case stemmed from a complaint over the awarding of the P14.4-billion operation and management contract of Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) to GMCAC under a 25-Year Concession.
The concession is for the expansion and operation of MCIA, consisting of the construction of a new passenger terminal with all associated infrastructure facilities; rehabilitation and expansion of the existing terminal along with all associated infrastructure and facilities; installation of the required information technology and other equipment commensurate with the operations; and operation and maintenance of both passenger terminals during the concession period.
GMCAC is a consortium between Megawide Construction Corporation (Megawide), a company incorporated under Philippine laws, and GMR Group, a foreign infrastructure company.
No comment, for now
Sought for comment, Megawide, GMR, and GMCAC said they “have not yet received any official communications from the Department of Justice regarding the case. For this reason, we decline to comment on this matter and will address this in the proper forum.”
The NBI-Anti-Fraud Division (NBI-AFD) claimed that the respondents “connived, colluded, schemed and acted together to violate the 1987 Constitution and the Anti-Dummy Law.”
It noted that based on the evidence, the MCIA is operated, administered, and managed by non-Filipinos more particularly by an Irish, a Ghanaian and several Indians who have profound control, enjoyment, and control over a Philippine public utility, with the knowledge and approval of the Filipino officers of CMIAA and GMCAC.
“Evidence submitted by the complainant and gathered by the investigators showed that the foreign nationals were actually performing executive and managerial positions,” the NBI said.
Specifically, the NBI is seeking to prosecute the respondents for violation of Section 2-A of the Anti-Dummy Law.
Dicdican was also charged before the Office of the Ombudsman for violations of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, being a government official.
The DOJ will conduct its preliminary investigation on the complaint in January.
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Article and Photo originally posted by Business Mirror last December 15, 2020 and written by Joel R. San Juan. Minor edits have been made by REBPH to cater to its own readers.
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