12th ASEAN Summit

CEBU, Philippines -- Whistleblower Crisologo Saavedra said he felt “vindicated” after reading about the updated cost of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) which Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said now stood at P793.19 million pending verification of billing claims.

He said the governor’s report, her second on the CICC, recognized the additional P261.21 million billing of WT Construction.

“It proves that my documents are legitimate and that it came from the province. This proves that I know what I’m doing and I was correct in my analysis,” he said.

“This is a plus factor in my case.”

Saavedra earlier sought the help of the Visayas Ombudsman to look into the expenses of the CICC, alleging among others that Governor Garcia misrepresented its real cost when she reported in a May 3 public briefing that the project cost as of that time was P581.27 million.

Saavedra yesterday said the Capitol was in a “tight situation” because the running cost was beyond the total approved budget of the Provincial Board of about P600 million.

“If it will exceed the budget, that is already technical malversation,” he told Cebu Daily News.

Saavedra said the latest billing of WT Construction could not be considered continuing expenses that would be covered by a separate contract because the work items involved work done inside the building.

“It cannot be continuing works because it (the CICC) was finished and used during the ASEAN Summit. There was no back job and repairs done,” he said.

Capitol consultant Rory John Sepulveda questioned Saavedra's statement that he was vindicated with the governor's presentation.

“Why, did the governor deny the recent (WT) claim? No she did not so what vindication is he talking about?” he said.

Governor Garcia said that now that she has accounted for expenses of the CICC other agencies with big projects like Cebu City's P3.9 billion South Reclamation Project (SRP) should do the same.

She said the province would pay every centavo due for the CICC without taking out a loan, unlike the reclamation project.

“As we continue with our infrastructure, macro and micro, we continue delivering on basic services. I can assure you that this number one province in the entire country will always remain debt free, zero debt . Walay utang,” she told visiting members of the league of barangay officials at the Capitol.