NBI probes funding 'irregularities' in 2019 SEA Games Clark complex

MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will conduct an investigation into alleged irregularities in the funding of a sports complex built in New Clark City, Tarlac, which was used in the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

In an interview on Tuesday, NBI Director Melvin Matibag said that upon their recent visit to New Clark City for the building of a 70-hectare NBI Academy, they saw the sports complex and received information that around P10 billion was involved in the project without undergoing liquidation.

He said a Malaysian company built the complex used in the SEA Games, noting that “there was no bidding that took place, and the P10 billion was quickly paid through congressional insertion in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).”

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“We have something to look at. We need to investigate something because when we got there, it turns out that billions of pesos came in here that were unliquidated,” Matibag, speaking Filipino, told reporters.

“And there is a private company here that was involved that paid P10 billion, and the payment was insertion, through insertion in the GAA that was not paid. We will investigate this. This is also a big case,” he added.

READ: Duterte defends P55-M SEA Games cauldron

The NBI director pointed out that the case is separate from the controversial cauldron in 2019’s SEA Games, which he said will be investigated again by the bureau. /jpv

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