A law firm has asked President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to halt the implementation of the vessel monitoring system (VMS) project being pushed by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
In a letter to the President dated June 12, 2023, the Ma. Neiseria Ailah Tuquero and Partners Law Office said the P2-billion contract to supply technology and equipment for the bureau’s Integrated Marine Environment Monitoring System (IMEMS) Project Phase II, also known as PHILO Project Phase II, was allegedly tainted with corruption.”
The project was won by British firm SRT Marine Systems Ltd. in 2018.
The law firm serves as the counsel for lawyer James Mier Victoriano, the private complainant in the graft case against BFAR officials who were instrumental for the awarding of VMS contract to SRT.
“For the Philippine government to continue the implementation of a project which is tainted with corruption and clearly excessive in cost begs the question as to who the true beneficiary is for its continued implementation,” the law office told the President.
“We pray that the Honorable President consider the pendency of the criminal complaint and the consequences of implementing the PHILO Project Phase II through SRT based on the irregularities attendant to and the expiration of the contract,” it added.
