A FORMER lawmaker and seven Department of Agriculture officials are facing multiple counts of graft raps before the Sandiganbayan over a P15-million pork barrel fund scam in 2005.
In three separate resolutions, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales ordered the filing of several counts of violation of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, against ex-Davao Oriental Rep. Joel Mayo Almario, and ex-DA’s regional field unit 11 officials Roger Chio, regional executive director; Romulo Palcon, regional technical director; Alma Mahinay, finance division chief; Godofredo Ramos, administrative officer; Onofre Nugal, agricultural engineering division chief; Jaime Bergonio, chief agriculturist, and Isagani Basco, chief administrative officer.
The Ombudsman found Chio and company facilitated the procurement and payment of 100 units of multimedia system with computer set at P10,000,000, water system materials at P2,591,435.40 and 81 units of personalized 10×20 livelihood tent with framing at P2,496,582, or a total of P15,088,017.40.
The funding for the water system materials was sourced from Almario’s share from the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani rice and corn program.
Ombudsman investigators found respondents failed to comply with the required bidding procedure, citing they failed to conduct any pre-procurement or any pre-bid conferences for the projects.
Respondents also failed to publish any invitation to bid as required under the Government Procurement Reform Act or Republic Act 9184.
Chio and the other respondents did not challenge that the procurement requirements were not complied with, but raised the common defense that “they did not have any involvement in the bidding process.”
“This is untenable,” Morales said.
“The wanton disregard of a plain and simple policy of the law that defeated the principle of transparency and competitiveness in the procurement process is sufficient to establish that respondents acted with evident bad faith, manifest partiality or gross inexcusable negligence,” she added.