AN anti-corruption watchdog filed on Tuesday graft charges against Palawan’s Puerto Princesa City Mayor Lucilo Bayron before the Office of the Ombudsman over a supposed purchase of heavy equipment worth P263,200,000.
In a complaint, Danilo Hassan, president of ZeroTolerance.Org also included in the charge sheet the bids and awards committee members Aileen Cynthia Amurao, Tiburcio Magay, Arnel Pedrosa, Alberto Jimenez and George Vasquez; city administrator Elena Vergara, BAC’s mandatory team Joven Ciriaco Baluyut, Rolly So and Sergio Red; city treasurer Jerome Padrones; BAC’s technical working group members Enrico Gabayan, Carlos Abogado, Ricardo Lagrada, Rosemarie Bacatan, Roneson Sendaydiego and Tita Murcia.
The case arose from a loan agreement of P300 million entered into between the city government and Land Bank of the Philippines on the financing of the acquisition of brand-new heavy equipment in September 2015.
On Jan. 26, 2016, BAC conducted a bidding for the procurement of heavy equipment, but declared a failure of bidding for several items under four purchase requests due to the absence of bidders.
Last Feb. 2, the mandatory review team recommended to consolidate all items into one purchase requests with a combined cost of P263,200,000.
Hassan said the respondents violated the law.
Based on the result and recommendations of the mandatory review team, the number of units of heavy equipment to be purchased was reduced from 60 to 45.
On March 15, the procurement was awarded to RDAK Transport Equipment Inc.
A week later, Bayron issued a notice to proceed with the procurement of seven six-wheeler dump trucks, eight 10-wheeler dump trucks, one hydraulic excavator-type truck, two motorized road graders and one unit of bulldozer.
On April 29, Vergara and Padrones issued a P140,721,774.28 check to RDAK Transport Equipment Inc. as partial payment.
According to Hassan, the check was dishonored.
“Clearly, therefore, the respondents conspiring with one another violated Sections 3(e) and 3(g) of Republic Act No. 3019, otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Acts,” the complaint read.
Hassan said Bayron committed grave misconduct, violation of Batas Pambansa 22 or the Bouncing Checks Law, and “even plunder.”
When asked why he filed a graft case, instead of a plunder complaint, he said “that will follow.”
He, however, denied the graft suit he filed was politically motivated.
“In fact, this is the 10th time that I have filed a case against a politician,” he told The Standard.