Bengzon
The March 7, 2012 issue of Sydney Morning Herald carried a news item, “Defence firm faces bribe probe “by Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker.
The firm involved is Tenix Defence, Australia’s biggest military contractor, which is under investigation by federal police investigation for allegedly bribing officials and politicians across Asia including the Philippines to win massive contracts.
The article said “A director of Tenix’s Philippines subsidiary, lawyer Romela Bengzon, this week confirmed a police investigation into company contracts. She declined to comment further, citing her ongoing role with Tenix.”
The article further said, “Ms Bengzon is well known to the Australian embassy in Manila and is corporate secretary of the Australian New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines. In 2005, she was made a commissioner to advise on changes to the Philippine constitution. She is now the Philippines ambassador for international trade.”
The last sentence was a shock to me because Bengzon was an ardent supporter of Gloria Arroyo. How did she get the position of “ambassador for international trade” under the Aquino administration?
Bengzon was deputy secretary-general of the 2006 Consultative Commission that Arroyo formed to amend the Constitution. The Commission recommended a shift to a parliamentary system of government. It also recommended the scrapping of the 2007 election and extension to 2010 the term of office of elective officials, local and national.
The Commission attempted to tamper with the provision in the Bill of Right guaranteeing freedom of the press by inserting the word “responsible.” Who determines what is “responsible” press?
Bengzon who loved to describe herself as “New York lawyer” was known to be very, very close with a ranking official of the Arroyo administration. We were told that during the Arroyo administration, she brokered several deals one of them was the supply by a French company of a paper used in the printing of Philippine money.
I immediately called up the Department of Foreign Affairs. Nobody knew about “Ambassador Romela Bengzon.”
I googled. Her profile in the Bengzon Law website states,” Mela Bengzon has been appointed to key positions by the Philippine government, i.e. she was chairperson of the Economic Liberalization Committee of the Charter Change Advocacy Commission and Deputy Secretary General of the Consultative Commission. Her most recent post in the Philippine Government is as the Honorary Investment and Trade Representative (Trade Ambassador) to the European Union.”
I called up her office and inquired about her being “Trade Ambassador.” The lady who entertained my query said, “That was before.” I asked when and she couldn’t tell me because she said Bengzon’s secretary had already gone home.
I texted some Malacañang officials. Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang said, “Not true.”
Carandang said he checked with the office of Executive Secretary Jojo Ochoa and there was really no appointment of Bengzon as “ambassador for international trade.”
Anyway, here’s the portion of the Sydney Morning Herald’s report involving the Philippines:
“One of the suspect Tenix deals involved a 2001-02 contract to supply six search-and-rescue vessels for the Philippine Coast Guard. It is suspected to have involved bribes to senior officials and politicians, including a cabinet minister.
“The deal was underpinned by a $109 million guarantee from the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) – an arm of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade – to enable the Philippines to borrow from banks, including ANZ, and pay Tenix for the boats.
“In 2002, when EFIC provided the guarantee and Tenix began building the boats for the Philippines, the company hired Mr Reith as a consultant. The company also had representatives on the boards of government trade agency Austrade and EFIC between 2001 and 2008. The Age is not suggesting Mr Reith was involved in the Philippines deal.
“BAE Systems – which in 2010 paid huge fines after US and UK investigations into allegations the firm had bribed foreign officials – is believed to have called in the federal police to investigate Tenix after finding evidence of suspected bribes. BAE declined to comment to The Age.
“In response to questions from The Age, an AFP spokesman said the agency ”received a referral in 2009 for alleged improper payments made by multinational staff members to secure contracts in the Asia region”.
‘’’As this matter is subject to an ongoing investigation, it is inappropriate to comment further,” the spokesman said.
“The Foreign Affairs Department last night said it became aware of the AFP’s probe into Tenix in January 2010. An EFIC spokeswoman confirmed the agency became aware of the police probe into Tenix last year and had ”co-operated with the AFP as requested”.
“Businessman Ian Knop, a former EFIC board member and Tenix lobbyist, declared a potential conflict of interest ”involving his client Tenix Defence and the government of the Philippines” in the corporation’s 2003 annual report.
“Mr Knop yesterday said his lobbying work for Tenix only related to domestic matters and that he would have excused himself from any EFIC board deliberations involving the company. Mr Knop, who left the EFIC board in 2008, said he was unaware of the police investigation into Tenix.
“Doubts over the legitimacy of Tenix’s Philippines deal, worth tens of millions to the company, first emerged in Manila in 2005 when Philippines Senate president Franklin Drilon declared it illegal and claimed no provision for the vessels had ever been made in the national budget.
“As a result, the Philippines stopped repaying its loan, leaving Australian taxpayers – through EFIC – liable for almost $100 million in unrepaid loans, according to information tabled in Australia’s Parliament in February 2007. EFIC declined to say whether it was still financially exposed over the deal.
“The six-boat contract followed Tenix’s delivery of two search-and-rescue vessels in 2000. The initial contract was funded in 1998-99 by an EFIC loan and a $21 million grant from aid agency AusAID.
“A director of Tenix’s Philippines subsidiary, lawyer Romela Bengzon, this week confirmed a police investigation into company contracts. She declined to comment further, citing her ongoing role with Tenix.
“Ms Bengzon is well known to the Australian embassy in Manila and is corporate secretary of the Australian New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines. In 2005, she was made a commissioner to advise on changes to the Philippine constitution. She is now the Philippines ambassador for international trade.”