Former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, and 2 other persons were charged with plunder and graft involving P6.6 billion in a complaint filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday, July 5, by former senator Antonio “Sonny” F. Trillanes IV.
Also charged with violations of Republic Act No. 7080, the Anti-Plunder Act, and RA 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, in Trillanes’ complaint-affidavit were Senator Go’s father Deciderio Lim and brother Alfredo Armero.
Aside from graft and plunder, Trillanes also asked the DOJ to file criminal charges against the four respondents for violations of RA 6713, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officers and Employees; culpable violation of the Constitution, particularly Article VI, Section 14 and Article VII, Section 13; and violations of other laws as may be warranted by the evidence.
He asked the DOJ to initiate and conduct the appropriate preliminary investigation on his complaints.
The complaint stated: “In sum, Respondents Duterte and Respondent Go-both public officers of the Republic of the Philippines at the time of the commission of the offense, as ‘main plunderers’ in connivance with Respondent Go’s father, Respondents Deciderio Go, and his half-brother, Respondent Alfredo Go, together were able to amass at least P6.6 billion pesos worth of contracts with the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) through a series of dubious transactions with unqualified Davao-based construction companies by taking undue advantage of their official positions, authority, relationship, connection or influence to successfully secure billions of pesos worth of contracts or projects which unjustly enriched themselves at the expense, to the damage and prejudice of the Filipino people and the Republic of the Philippines."
“Clearly enough, there is a concurrence of all the elements of Plunder in this case,” Trillanes also said in his complaint.
He remainded: “[T]he President, Vice-President, the Members of the Cabinet, and their deputies or assistants shall not, unless otherwise provided in this Constitution, hold any other office or employment during their tenure. They shall not, during said tenure, directly or indirectly, practice any other profession, participate in any business, or be financially interested in any contract with, or in any franchise, or special privilege granted by the Government or any subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof, including government-owned or controlled corporations or their subsidiaries. They shall strictly avoid conflict of interest in the conduct of their office.”
“The acts and relationships of herein Respondents, thus, fall squarely under the above constitutional and statutory proscriptions against conflict of interest in the public sector, undermining the fundamental integrity of the government,” Trillanes said.
The former senator said he was able to gather evidence during the inquiry conducted by the Senate Committee on Civil Service that he chaired when he was still a member fo the Senate.
The inquiry stemmed from the 2018 Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) reports on the Duterte administration’s infrastructure projects.
Citing the records submitted by the Commission on Audit (COA) to the Senate committee, Trillanes said that it was found that "from the period of 2007 to 2018, at least P6.6 billion worth of government contracts were awarded to CLTG Builders and Alfrego Builders & Supply, combined.”
According to the certification of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Trillanes said CLTG and Alfrego Builders are Davao-based sole proprietorships belonging to Sen. Go’s father Deciderio Lim Go and half-brother Alfredo Armero Go, respectively.
“In sum, based on the records submitted to my office, which were previously appended hereto and now form part of herein Complaint-Affidavit, CLTG Builders and Alfrego Builders & Supply combined were awarded government projects, from 2007 to 2018, valued at a staggering amount of at least Php 6.6 billion,” he said.
He also said he learned that the two firms secured licenses from the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) and classified CLTG Builders and Alfrego Builders which, he alleged, to have been classified as “mid- and bottom-tier contractors respectively.”
“Clearly, not only did each of the above contract cost greatly exceed the allowed SLP (Single Largest Project), each of them also surpassed the ARCC (Allowable Range of Contract Cost) as a whole already. Otherwise stated, the awarding of just a single one of any of the above contracts in favor of CLTG Builders should have disqualified the latter from bidding for, and thereafter being awarded, another contract/s before the former contract is accomplished,” Trillanes claimed.
At the same time, Trillanes said that “Alfrego Builders & Supply should not have been awarded any project more than P10 million, and is prohibited from taking on projects with a total cost of more than P15 million at once.”
He cited that “some contracts obtained by Alfrego amounted to P181.5 million, P140 million, P132.5 million and P108 million, all of which were awarded in 2017 and 2018 when Duterte was President and herein Respondent Bong Go was Cabinet of President Rodrigo Duterte as Special Assistant to the President and Head of the Presidential Management Staff.”
“Similar to CLTG Builders, each of these amounts was way above Alfrego Builders & Supply’s allowed SLP and total ARCC,” Trillanes also alleged.