BALER, Aurora—Gov. Gerardo A. Noveras and 10 other officials of the provincial government, including his elder brother, have been charged with graft before the Office of the Ombudsman for the anomalous purchase of a heavy equipment three years ago.
Aside from Noveras, also charged for violations of Republic Act 3019, also known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, gross negligence, misconduct in office and irregularity in the performance of duties before the Office of the Ombudsman for Luzon were Noveras’ elder brother and executive assistant, Isaias A. Noveras Jr. , provincial administrator Simeon De Castro, provincial legal counsel lawyer Paz Torregosa.
Provincial general services officer Ricardo Bautista, provincial budget officer Norma Clemente, provincial treasurer Norberto Herminigildo, provincial equipment pool officer Cornelio P. Ancheta, assistant provincial engineer Benedicto Rojo, engineer Alfredo E. Penzon and Joel D. Friginal.
De Castro was charged as chairman of the bids and awards committee whose members include Torregosa, Bautista, Rojo, Clemente and Noveras Jr., a former vice governor.
Penzon and Friginal were included as head and member of the provincial government’s technical working group, respectively.
The nine-page joint complaint-affidavits were filed by engineer Amado Elson A. Egargue of Barangay Suklayin and engineer Rodante A. Tolentino of Barangay 5 Poblacion, both of this capital town.
In their complaint, the two accused Noveras and the 10 other Capitol officials of conspiring in procuring a unit of brand-new wheel loader Komatsu WA380Z-6 at a cost of P8,555,587.27 in 2013.
Documents submitted with the Ombudsman showed that sometime in December 2013, Noveras approved the procurement of the heavy equipment through a purchase request signed by Ancheta which should have been charged before the provincial government’s 20-percent development fund.
The BAC then held a bidding and declared Maxima Machineries Inc. the winning bidder.
Later, the provincial government went on with the procurement, with Noveras opening an import letter of credit with the Development Bank of the Philippines for the importation of the wheel loader.