Aquino dared: Combat corruption, abrogate anomalous housing deals
06/20/2010 The women’s organization Gabriela yesterday called on President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino to pay attention to the alleged anomalous and conspiratorial agreements between government housing agencies and private corporations. In parti-cular, the group cited the recently uncovered alleged anomalous deals between the govern-ment and businessman Reghis Romero days before Aquino takes on the presidency. For the militant women’s group, the Smokey Mountain Development and Reclamation Project (SMDRP) is crooked and smacked of corruption. “It is a shame for the outgoing administration to sneak in a memorandum containing P4.4 billion for the benefit of corrupt government officials and profit-greedy corporations,” said Lana Linaban, secretary general of Gabriela. R-II Builders, the corporation of Reghis Romero which won the bid to build SMDRP as a low-cost, socialized housing to the marginalized and homeless who lived in what was known as Smokey Mountain, was said to have failed to deliver its obligation as stipulated in the contract it entered into with the government during President Fidel Ramos’ time. According to Alyansa ng Mamamayan sa Smokey Mountain, a local alliance of residents of Permanent Housing Project under SMDRP, “to date, there are still seven unfinished buildings left to rot by the contractor.” The group alleged that Romero’s corporation proved to be financially insufficient to build SMRDP. But instead of revoking the contract, the Arroyo administration rewarded Romero with billions of pesos from the public funds. To rub salt to the wound, the outgoing administration plans to extract more fund for Romero, the group charged. “It is scandalous to talk of this kind of money when the supposed beneficiaries of the said housing project languish in the most dismal of living conditions,” added Linaban. Source: The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100620hed6.html |
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