THE World Bank yesterday said it will not publicly disclose the results of its investigation into a national road improvement prog-ram, but added it has shared its report with the Finance Department and the Ombudsman after it found collusion among some bidders.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Bank said its policy was not to publicly disclose the details of its findings.

But it said the investigation involved more than 10 investigators, lawyers, experts, and technical staff who conducted field work in six countries for more than three years.

The Bank?s statement came after Malaca?ang and the Senate separately sought copies of its report.

Malaca?ang asked its economic managers to get a copy after Senator Panfilo Lacson linked the President?s husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, to the contracts.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita yesterday said different versions of the report were being presented in the Senate, so that only a certified copy from the multilateral lending agency would resolve the issue.

Earlier, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago said her copy of the report did not mention the President?s husband. She added that reports regarding his involvement in the road project were hearsay.

But Lacson said Santiago might have the ?wrong copy? since his version confirmed the alleged collusion among three contractors and the involvement of Mr. Arroyo.

He added that the Bank report even indicated a 5-percent commission that allegedly went to Mr. Arroyo.

Lacson admitted his copy was incomplete and that he only had excerpts, but said those portions ?clearly implicated? Mr. Arroyo.

?I have only excerpts of that report, not the full report, but substantial enough to make conclusions,? he said.

In its statement yesterday, the Bank?s agency in charge of investigating allegations of fraud and corruption in bank-financed operations conducted more than 60 interviews with various witnesses; reviewed thousands of pages of documents, including bids, contracts, communication and other project documents; and conducted a forensic analysis of all bids submitted over three rounds of bidding for the tenders in question.

It said the investigation uncovered evidence of a major cartel involving local and international companies bidding on the road contracts.

?At the close of the investigation in November 2007, [the bank] shared its investigative findings with the Philippines? Department of Finance and the Office of the Ombudsman in the form of a referral report,? it said.

It said such referrals were the Bank?s standard practice when its investigative agency found evidence indicating that the laws of a member country might have been violated.

The Bank also said a redacted report summarizing its investigative findings would be posted on its Web site in the coming weeks.

The World Bank has banned eight companies and one individual for engaging in ?collusive practices? in the first stage of the National Roads Improvement and Management Program.

It said the project team identified indicators of collusion in the bidding for two contract packages worth an estimated $33 million, and then reported its suspicions to its investigative office.

?As part of the ensuing sanctions process, these companies received a Notice of Sanctions Proceedings in May 2008 containing all alleged wrongdoing, and each was given 90 days to submit a response in their defense and contest the allegations against them,? the Bank said.

?All of the companies were also offered the opportunity, as part of their response, to request a hearing before the Bank?s sanctions board.?

Senator Francis Escudero said his committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes and laws would be willing to take over the investigation of the World Bank-funded road projects. That was after Santiago, chairman of the committee on economic affairs, refused to continue hearings if no witness stepped forward to testify against Mr. Arroyo.

Santiago said she had asked the World Bank?s country director, Bert Hofman, for a complete copy of the report, and would call for another hearing once she received the documents.

Speaker Prospero Nograles dismissed Lacson?s linking Mr. Arroyo to the contracts as hearsay.

?When there are no documents, it is still hearsay,? Nograles said. ?That is our training as lawyers.?

One potential witness, a contractor, said he had received threats since Senator Benigno Aquino III asked him to testify.

Venicio Ramos, 56, a resident of Culiat, Quezon City, and a resident manager of Guangdong Construction, a company that has joined World Bank-funded projects, said he had ?a lot to tell? about the $33-million road improvement project.

Ramos told police that two men on a motorcycle went to his house to warn him against testifying before the Senate. He said they threatened to hurt his family if he did. Roderick T. dela Cruz, Fel V. Maragay, Joyce Pangco Pa?ares, Roy Pelovello, Joel M. Sy Egco, Joel Zurbano