CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga- - At least four top executives of the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC), mostly members of the bids and awards committee (BAC) have received threatening text messages apparently related to the recent murder of the airport's chief engineer in Sta. Ignacia, Tarlac.
This, even as Sta. Ignacia police head Chief Inspector Crisanto Paac told the Star in a telephone interview that the police task force group formed to probe the killing of Clark airport chief engineer Ruel Angeles is now focusing its probe on the victim's activities at the Clark airport.
"Sta. Ignacia is a peaceful town and we know of no involvement of the victim in the town that could give a hint on his murder. He had been known as a peaceful and even religious man in his community, so the task force is now focusing on the possibility that his case could be job-related," said Paac who is a member of the task force.
A ranking official of CIAC, who asked not to be named amid alleged "gag order" on the killing of Angeles, said that one member of the BAC received the text "One down, more to go."
"At least four others, including two women, also received similar text messages," the source said.
Almost all of the recipients on the text messages are members of the BAC which has been involved in the controversial bidding for the Clark airpor's Instrument Landing System (ILS). Angeles was a member of the BAC.
Angeles was shot dead by one of two motorcycle-riding men while driving his wife Crusenia and their grandchild to school in Barangay Pada-Pada in his sometown in Sta. Ignacia, Tarlac Monday last week. Crusenia has fully recovered from a bullet wound while the child was unhurt.
Paac said that the remains of Angeles are expected to be buried today, Nov. 19, in Sta. Ignacia. He also said that Crusenia has fully recovered and that he has provided the Angeles family at least six policemen to secure them pending investigation of the murder case.
Paac said that investigation conducted by his men revealed that while Angeles was member of the Tarlac Fowl Gaming Association and participated in local cockfights, he was known as a "minor" bettor. "Our information is that he was into cockfighting as mere pastime and never had enemies in cockfighting," he added.
Another very reliable source from CIAC who also asked not to be identified noted that Angeles's engineering department had been credited for maintaining the 18-year-old ILS at the Clark airport. An ILS reportedly costs P250 million.
Because the lifespan of an ILS is supposed to be 15 years at most, the Clark airport's BAC held a bidding for a new one last year, with the firm Evercon winning with a bid of P205 million on Oct. 22, he noted.
"Evercon turned out to be the only qualified bidder because the terms of reference categorized the project as infrastructure that required a permit from the Philippine Contractors Association of the Philippines (PCAP) and Evercon was the only one who had such permit," the source said.
Those who were disqualified, however, protested the classification of the project as infrastructure and urged that it be classified as mere "delivery of supply" that would qualify more bidders. Thus, upon instruction of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) which is the mother agency of CIAC, the BAC here was compelled to declare a failure of bidding only recently, the source related.
Newly installed CIAC president and chief excutive officer Emigdio Tanjuatco said in a telephone interview that the re-bidding for the ILS was deferred last Nov. 14 amid a protest filed by Evercon which had paid P1.2 million protest fee.
"I believe there are two or three interested bidders, but the (CIAC) board is first resolving the protest," Tanjautco added.
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