Daily Tribune (Philippines)

NIA lawyers probe over lost case sought

- BY MARIA ROMERO @tribunephl_mbr

National Irrigation Administra­tion Administra­tor Benny D. Antiporda is asking the Office of the Ombudsman to investigat­e and file appropriat­e criminal and administra­tive charges against the agency’s lawyers who lost a P205-million case this year.

At a press conference on Monday, Antiporda disclosed that he asked Ombudsman Samuel R. Martires, through a letter dated 15 September, to investigat­e the criminal and administra­tive liabilitie­s of lawyers Lloyd Allain A. Cudal and Mary Annabelle F. Cruz-Domingo.

Cudal is currently the acting manager of Legal Services. On the other hand, Cruz-Domingo is the lawyer handling the case.

According to Antiporda, NIA stands to lose the Green Asia Case with a total amount of P205 million due to the officials’ “lackadaisi­cal attitude and cavalier handling of the case.”

“Such case could have been avoided if they performed their tasks and duties with devotion, utmost diligence and good faith. The said damage is unduly suffered by the government and, ultimately, by the taxpayers — an injustice to the Filipino people,” Antiporda said.

The NIA administra­tor likewise pointed out that the agency seeks to strengthen its Public-Private Partnershi­p with 50 potential irrigation projects nationwide.

Majority of these are big-ticket multipurpo­se projects with hydropower components and Small River Irrigation Projects with reservoirs that can be utilized for floating solar power farms and/or mini-hydroelect­ric power plants.

Currently, NIA has received investment pledges of more than P1 trillion through Letters of Intent from different investors.

The agency likewise vowed to regularize its 72 officials nationwide with acting appointmen­ts.

Moreover, a total of 564 vacant plantilla positions nationwide will be filled up to strengthen the Agency’s social capital.

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