WJ Construction owner admits visiting Erwin Tulfo’s office

WJ Construction owner Mina Jose admitted Thursday that she visited the office of Senator Erwin Tulfo on 19 August.

In a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, Jose said she went to the upper chamber to conduct an ocular inspection at Tulfo’s office for a supposed contract for his veranda at the 5th floor of the Senate building.

“Meron po kasing problem yung terrace ni Senator Erwin na binabaha po siya lalo po pag umuulan (Senator Erwin's terrace has a problem with flooding, especially when it rains),” she said.

“Ako po ‘yung na-refer na contractor ng staff niya na kung pwede po tingnan namin gawa ng solusyon and mag-suggest po kami sa kanya (I was the contractor referred by his staff, to look into a solution and suggest it to him).”

Tulfo, in his defense, said the only time he learned of the firm was through his staff, who recommended it to him. He added that when Jose's name was mentioned by former DPWH engineer Brice Hernandez, he immediately requested the cancellation of all contracts with the firm.

“I specifically ordered to terminate our office refurbishment project with WJ. And also, that was on September 9, Mr. Chair. And then on September 11, I issued another memo asking for an incident report to all concerned employees, specifically the friend of the WJ Construction, Mina Jose," Tulfo said.

“In September 18, I passed an internal policy for gate pass and visitor's pass request. Na wala po muna kami tatanggapin ng mga bisita because of that,” Tulfo added, saying he is willing to submit all the documents, including the drawing submitted by Jose for the refurbishment of his veranda on the 5th floor, and screenshots of the text message between his staff and Jose.

Meanwhile, aside from dropping by Tulfo’s office, Jose admitted to visiting the Senate Blue Ribbon Oversight Office Management (BROOM) to see her friend, Beng Ramos, whom she said is suffering from cancer.

Tulfo, however, said he felt his office was used by Jose to gain access to BROOM.

"Bakit dumaan sa BROOM. Parang ginamit po yung aming opisina na makapasyal siya sa BROOM, eh wala naman po sa agenda. Hindi rin po niya minention na may kilala po siya dito sa Senate, dyan, sa Blue Ribbon. In other words [p]arang nagamit po yung opisina ko, para dumaan po siya sa BROOM (Why did she go to BROOM? It seems like she used our office to visit BROOM, but it wasn't on the agenda. She also didn't mention that she knew someone here in the Senate, there, at Blue Ribbon. In other words, it seems like my office was used to visit BROOM).”

DPWH district engineer Brice Hernandez earlier accused WJ Construction of “delivering kickbacks” to the Senate.

Jose, meanwhile, denied involvement in any of its projects, saying they did not join any bidding.

"We never submitted any documents," she said.