BCDA exec justifies SCTEX project cost

By Ding Cervantes (The Philippine Star)

ANGELES CITY , Philippines  – An official of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) who was cited by Cavite Rep. Crispin Remulla in the controversy on the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) broke his silence yesterday and justified the project’s cost.

Retired Brig. Gen. Robert Gervacio, BCDA’s program manager for SCTEX’s operational and support services, also cleared Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III of any involvement in the project’s coverage of Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac.

“Everything was aboveboard in land acquisitions and I don’t even think that Senator Aquino was aware of the negotiations from 2003 to 2004 on land valuation with BCDA on areas affected in Hacienda Luisita,” Gervacio said.

“As far as I know, there had been no contact between the BCDA and Sen. Aquino with regard to the negotiations on land valuation,” he stressed, but noted that his agency’s land acquisition team had negotiated with Pedro Cojuangco as president of the Hacienda Luisita, Inc. (HLI).

Gervacio also debunked allegations that right-of-way acquisitions had bloated the cost of the 93.77-kilometer project to as high as P33 billion as alleged by Congressman Remulla, an ally of presidential aspirant Sen. Manuel Villar.

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