He followed it this week with an “I will impeach them†(the two ladies) rant. Considering that Congress has found the impeachment charges against Sereno sufficient in substance, in spite of her excellent and evidence-supported answer to the charges, this column will deal with the charge that Mr. Duterte picked to demonstrate Sereno’s supposed corruption—the Piatco case.
I have written about the case involving Piatco (Philippine International Air Transport Co. Inc.) several times over the years. The earliest column on it was in 2002—yes, 15 years ago. And yes, Piatco, a build-operate-transfer project to build Naia 3, is practically synonymous with corruption at the highest levels of government. Name it, and it almost certainly was done: contracts with the government signed without going through the ICC (Investment Coordination Committee); additional contracts making the terms more onerous for the government, again signed without ICC approval; lack of required financial capacity on the part of Piatco. Also: German partner Fraport pretending that it had only 30 percent equity but in truth had put in almost 60 percent, deals with contractors amazingly overpriced, consultants enormously overpaid, etc., etc., resulting in huge cost overruns.
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