CUC official demanded kickback, says witness

A witness for the prosecution yesterday revealed that Commonwealth Utilities Corp. Board Member Benjamin M. Sablan demanded payment from her in connection with the hiring of 12 Filipino workers for the utilities firm.

Elizabeth P. Castaneda, owner of EPC Recruiting Service, testified during a trial before the U.S. District Court that the two payments she made were part of an earlier agreement with Mr. Sablan that he would get a $200 “commission” for each contract worker that will be sent to Saipan to work with CUC.

The CUC official is now facing bribery charges before the federal court for allegedly accepting kickbacks from EPC as a reward for a business transaction involving the hiring of Filipino contract workers.

The first check was issued to Mr. Sablan amounting to $1,000 on Dec. 17, 1996 representing payment for the five workers sent to CUC. On Jan. 24, 1997, Mr. Sablan accepted a check amounting to $1,400 representing payment for seven more workers.

Mr. Sablan called up Ms. Castaneda in two separate occasions to get the money from her. “It’s a fulfillment of an obligation. I was looking at it as a business transaction,” said Ms. Castaneda when asked to describe the arrangement with the CUC official.

Although she did not have a contract to supply manpower to CUC, Ms. Castaneda’s friendship with Mr. Sablan facilitated everything. At that time, CUC had already chosen the firm Casa Felipe, owned by Felipe Atalig, to provide the manpower requirement of CUC.

Mr. Sablan assured Ms. Castaneda that he could recommend her to Mr. Atalig to become an agent for supplying workers.

Ms. Castaneda told the court that when she asked Mr. Sablan if $200 per worker would be enough to compensate for his efforts, the CUC official said yes.

In March 1996, CUC representatives Frank Lizama and Joe Demapan as well as Mr. Atalig went to Manila to interview about 60 job applicants for two days. Initially, Mr. Atalig offered $6 to $7 per hour salaries to the workers but later on came back secretly to Manila without Ms. Castaneda’s knowledge and started offering a lower rate to the job seekers.

Later on, Mr. Lizama contacted Ms. Castaneda to supply a total of 12 workers to CUC. The first batch, about five workers, came to Saipan in April 1996 and seven more arrived in June 1996.

Ms. Castaneda and Mr. Sablan have been friends since the early ’90s when the CUC official was still a member of the House of Representatives. He was a regular customer in her Karaoke bar and she even supplied workers to Mr. Sablan for his personal needs which include domestic helpers, farmers, clerks and accountants.

When his term expired in the Legislature, he even told Ms. Castaneda that former Gov. Froilan Tenorio will be appointing him as CUC board member. To facilitate her links with the utilities firm, Ms. Castaneda was introduced to CUC Executive Director Timothy Villagomez in Mr. Sablan’s residence where they discussed the possibility of hiring power plant operator, mechanic and lineman.