$30M Extort - Czech Envoy Clears Ballsy

Czech envoy write to President Aquino

July 20, 2013 11:29 pm

Embassy of the Czech Republic

30/F Rufino Pacific Tower, 6784 Ayala Avenue,

Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines

Tel.: +63-2-8111155, +63-2-8111156,

Fax: +63-2-811020

Email: manila@embassy.mzv.cz

Web: http://www.mzv.cz/manila

BENIGNO S. AQUINO III

President

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

Malacañang Palace

Manila

Your Excellency,

Last 29 June 2013, the Czech Company Inekon, and members of your family were the subjects of inaccurate and nasty press reports pertaining to the MRT3 capacity expansion. On both a personal and official capacity, please allow me to make the following statements:

1.    I wish to state that the allegations that members of your family were involved with discussions with Inekon on any projects in the Philippines are simply untrue and malicious. I have had the pleasure of meeting Eldon and Ballsy Cruz and other members of your family and former Secretary Pete Prado who was a member of your late mother’s official family and I hold all of them in the highest esteem. Neither Secretary Prado nor any member of your family has offered their any assistance in any of the projects that my country is pursuing in the Philippines. Your family is well known not to involve themselves on governmental affairs most especially in the area of procurement.

2.    The Czech proposal for the MRT3 capacity expansion and modernization is a government-to-government deal, which cannot contain any provisions for commissions. Over the last three years, we have transmitted more than ten official letters from our Ministry of Trade and Foreign Affairs supporting this proposal and submitted to the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) booklets of extensive technical plans and financial proposals in order to comply with Philippine Procurement Procedures. We continue to wait patiently for a response from the DOTC.

3.    In early April 2013, I was able to secure a meeting with Secretary Emilio Abaya to report an incident between some officials of his department and myself, together with the top management of Inekon. While I still have yet to discern who are behind these terrible press releases, I had hoped that Secretary Abaya would have dealt with this issue in a swift and judicious manner before it reached this embarrassing and untenable state of affairs.

Your Excellency, should you find it worthwhile, we are prepared to come out with a public statement to clear members of your family whose honor have been besmirched by these malicious press reports and to declare the Czechs government’s continued interest in participating in your government’s development program.

We remain in support of your administration and the Filipino People.

Josef Rychtar

Ambassador of the Czech Republic