Demolition derby

FRENZIED. THAT is the demolition of 16 buildings at the Clark civil aviation complex, 14 in a period of one month.
“Dilapidated derelicts thoroughly ransacked. With absolute zero value in the CIAC books.”
So rationalized Clark International Airport Corp. President-CEO Victor Jose “Chichos” Luciano of the demolition, further ennobling his rationalization with the declaration that all the proceeds from the scraps went to the livelihood programs of the indigenous Aeta tribes of Bamban, CIAC not seeing a single cent of it.
But zero value? The scraps from the demolished buildings may not have any value in the CIAC books but, aside from the sentimental, they absolutely have million-peso value in some other books. Go, Chichos, ask any junk shop dealer.
Yes, in our banner story here yesterday, the value of the scrap derived from the 16 demolished buildings was put at between a low of P30 million to a whopping P192 million. There is money in those dilapidated derelicts, Chichos.
But he Aetas, the intended beneficiaries, claimed having received practically nothing. At least the president of the Bamban Aeta Tribal Association, Oscar Rivera, went on record saying: “What we got was P15,000 and 100 sacks of rice, and that was in 2009.”
So where did the rest of the money go?
Loose lips at the CIAC itself let loose rumors of P1- million cold cash finding its way to the individual campaign chests of six very fortunate mayors. The monetized scraps personally delivered by a ranking CIAC thief, er, chief of office.
No hearsays now but in a story here today, one Josie Gomez, a purported scrap dealer, introduced herself as the very “agent” of the Aetas in dealing with scrap buyers, and claimed she had turned over about P9.5 million to the Aetas since the demolitions began last year.
A total of P4.5 million of that amount, Gomez claimed, was spent for various projects, such as water pumps, scholarships and distribution of relief goods in the Aeta villages in Bamban.
Gomez also disclosed that contrary to Rivera’s claim of only P15,000 and 100 sacks of rice, he actually received “no less than P3.5 million” share of the proceeds from the sale of scraps of two demolished buildings.
Gomez’s declarations virtually exonerated Luciano from all allegations of anomalies arising from the demolition job he authorized.
We have to point out though that Rivera has called Gomez an “associate of Luciano.”
The same Gomez was exposed by Candaba Mayor Jerry Pelayo – in a report to CIAC Board Chairman Nestor Mangio – as having offered his son Patrick the amount of P450,000 just to allow the demolition of a building he wanted to use.
Pelayo has earlier accused Luciano of having ordered the demolition of two buildings in his leased area for a food hub.
Luciano may have found some solace in the declarations of Gomez but he would find no comfort but all misery in the continuing demolition job swirling about him.
Now labeled as the “Demolition Man” – that’s what the monikers “Boy Scrap and “Boy Bakal” sum up to, Luciano has to contend with the vitriolic ink of those poison letters and the venomous innuendoes and verbal assaults on his persona.
Already, a Ford Escape and a Toyota Fortuner are being tagged as “katas ng scrap, handog ni Boy Manyak.”So, ignorant us could only ask: Who own(s) those SUVs? Can they afford to pay for such pricey vehicles with their salaries, be they from CIAC or CDC?
It would be silly to still ask who Boy Manyak is supposed to be.
Yeah, it is not only the derelict and dilapidated buildings that are currently being demolished at CIAC, even characters – not necessarily dilapidated and derelict – are objects of the wrecking ball.
Yeah, demolition derby is the name of the game in Clark. Especially with this frenzy to hold on to positions, to clutch at straws, in the irreversible change of administration.
Irreversible? I maybe wrong there, what with a “Boy Kapit” or a “Boy Sipsip” at CIAC reportedly having already ingratiated himself with the incoming Aquino administration.
Oh boy!