Anti-corruption group sues BSP, national ID contractor

Al Vitangcol 3rd

THE anti-corruption group Citizen Crime Watch International Inc. (CCWII) has initiated legal action against the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Philippine Identification ID (aka national ID) contractor, Allcard Inc. (ACI).

In their petition for prohibition and mandamus dated Jan. 25, 2024, CCWII asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order “against respondent Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas from acting on the compromise offer of respondent Allcard Inc. as specified in the latter’s letter dated July 12, 2023” pending the resolution of the petition.

Their main prayer is for the court to issue a writ of prohibition and mandamus “ordering and directing respondent Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to impose the proper amount of liquidated damages due to respondent Allcard Inc. and to penalize Allcard Inc. for its failure to deliver the goods as specified in their agreement with respondent Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.”

What is CCWII?

Culled from the petition itself, CCWII “is an anti-crime organization composed of concerned Filipino citizens and taxpayers. It has one vision — a corruption-free Philippines. It wants a society free of corruption, a world where transparency exposes the crooked so that they can be prosecuted. To combat corruption, it pushes for the accountability of those in positions of authority. By fostering openness, accountability and integrity, the movement seeks to end the injustice of corruption.”

CCWII was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 19, 2018. It is headed by its chairman, Dr. Carlomagno Batalla.

As shown in the petition’s arguments and discussions, there is a lack of any party with a more direct and specific interest in raising the questions elicited therein. Thus, CCWII is filing the petition as a public suit.

Prelude to petition

It seemed that CCWII had already communicated its concerns with the BSP, but the latter turned a deaf ear.

To allow the BSP to carry out its functions and discharge its responsibilities within the sphere of its competence, CCWII sent a letter dated Jan. 11, 2024 to BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. detailing the perceived illegal acts of BSP and that of ACI.

The group wrote: “CCWI is now asking your Office to immediately terminate the subject contract with ACI and direct your OGCLS to assess and impose the proper liquidated damages to ACI. Barring the compliance of these twin requirements, CCWI would be forced to seek other legal remedies to prevent the wholesale deception of the Filipino people, unnecessary depletion of taxpayers’ money and the unabated corruption within the BSP.”

Without any response from the BSP, CCWII then decided to petition the court. They likewise impleaded former BSP governor Benjamin Diokno in the suit. OGCLS is BSP’s Office of General Counsel and Legal Services (OGCLS), which the movement also perceived to be crooked.

Contents of petition

The petition was prefaced with, “It is the policy of the Philippine government, in line with the principle that a public office is a public trust, to repress certain acts of public officers and private persons alike which constitute graft or corrupt practices or which may lead thereto.”

It averred that “the problems associated with the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) and the much-delayed distribution of Philippine Identification (PhilID) cards, as raised in this petition, are of transcendental importance and imbued with paramount public interest.” In my opinion, it really is.

Allegedly, “the delivery of the 116 million pieces of PhilID plastic cards should have been completed by the end of 2023. However, published materials, both from the media and online sources, showed that ACI delivered a mere 46 million cards out of the supposed 116 million cards as of end of 2023,” resulting in a huge amount of liquidated damages due to ACI, which BSP is contemplating on reducing.

Based on the Project Briefer for the governor dated July 5, 2023, “As of 15 June 2023, ACI already incurred liquidated damages (LD) with a total of P258,754,031.91 equivalent to 12.21 percent of the contract amount for Lot 1 Card Production which is P2,119,320,000. The total LD deducted in all Lot 1 Card Production payments of BSP to ACI amount to P96,633,675.06 and an estimated total of P162,120,356.84 of LD is yet to be deducted on the succeeding payments to ACI.”

On July 12, 2023, ACI, through its authorized representative Carlo Enrico Jarlego, sent a letter to BSP to “discuss in detail the possibility of reaching a compromise” and that the computed liquidated damages “be reduced to … P1,504,995.89.”

“BSP, through an undated letter signed by BSP Director Tomas B. Rosales Jr., is entertaining the idea of entering into a compromise agreement with ACI, which definitely violates the applicable TOR, anomalous, and reeks of graft and corruption.”

The petition further stated: “In accordance with the project contract, ACI should have delivered the whole 116 million pieces of PhilID cards by the end of 2023, which it did not. The liquidated damages by the end of year 2023 would have ballooned to at least P250 million. Instead of imposing and collecting at least P250 million, as liquidated damages, from respondent ACI, respondent BSP entertained the idea of entering into a compromise agreement with respondent ACI and in the process reduce the liquidated damages to a minuscule P1.5 million.”

Dr. Batalla asked the court to “step in and repress these despicable acts of public respondent BSP and private respondent ACI alike, which constitute graft and corrupt practice.”

I have been writing in this column about this national ID fiasco and it seems that finally, a concerned anti-corruption organization is taking the task to question the same and hold those responsible accountable.

What about the government? What has it done to correct this anomalous situation?

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