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OMBUDSMAN Merceditas Gutierrez on Monday approved the
filing of criminal and administrative charges against
two city mayors and 19 other government officials in
connection with the controversial lamppost project in
Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities.
The
project was implemented as part of the preparations for
the holding of the 12th Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (Asean) Summit early last year.
“The
Ombudsman ordered today the filing of charges against
the respondents before the Sandiganbayan,” Assistant
Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni told reporters in a press
briefing at the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City.
In a
30-page resolution, the Ombudsman investigating panel
recommended the filing of charges for violation of the
Antigraft and Corrupt Practices Act, or Republic Act
3019, against former mayor Thadeo Ouano of Mandaue City
and Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arthuro Radaza.
Also
charged were Hidelisa Latonio, officer in charge of the
Office of the City Engineer of Mandaue City; assistant
city engineer Gregorio Omo and engineers Mario Gerolaga,
Alfredo Sanchez Sr. and Rosalina Denque, all of Mandaue
City; city engineer Julito Cuizon, assistant city
engineer Fernando Tagaan Jr. and engineer Rogelio Veloso,
all of Lapu-Lapu City;
Isabelo
Braza, president and chairman of the board of the Fabmik
Construction and Equipment Supply Inc. and Gerardo Surla,
chairman of the board of Gampik Construction and
Development Inc.
Jalandoni also named officials of the Department of
Public Works and Highways (DPWH) as respondents, namely,
DPWH Central Visayas director Robert Lala, former
assistant regional director Gloria Dindin, assistant
regional director Marlina Alvizo, Maintenance Division
OIC Pureza Fernandez, Maintenance Division assistant OIC
Cresencio Bagolor, regional legal officer Agustinito
Hermoso, Planning and Design Division chief Luis Galang,
Administrative Division chief Restituto Diano and
Construction Division chief Buenaventura Pajo.
When
asked why DPWH Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. was not
included in the charge sheet, Jalandoni declined to
answer.
In the
resolution, Gutierrez directed Ebdane to dismiss “with
all inherent penalties” Lala, Dindin, Alvizo, Fernandez,
Bagolor, Hermoso, Galang, Diano and Pajo for grave
misconduct.
The
Ombudsman also directed Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes
to implement the dismissal of Latonio, Omo, Gerolaga,
Sanchez and Denque with forfeiture of benefits.
Gutierrez recommended perpetual disqualification from
any government position for Ouano.
She also
directed Radaza to implement the dismissal of Cuizon,
Tagaan and Veloso.
“The
subject lighting facilities, as acquired or paid for or
both, by the government, were highly overpriced,”
Jalandoni said, citing the result of the investigation
conducted by the Public Assistant and Corruption
Prevention Office (Pacpo) of the Ombudsman-Visayas.
Jalandoni said the fact-finding team arrived at the
conclusion after comparing the costs of the lampposts as
indicated in the Programs of Work and Detailed Estimates
prepared by
Mandaue City,
and reflected in the importation documents.
For
example, the cost of a single arm pole per importation
documents was only P7,536, but in the program of work of
Mandaue the cost was P72,500; P8,121.20 was the
importation cost of double-arm pole, while Mandaue
pegged it at P85,000; P9,523.37 was the importation cost
of a triple-arm pole but Mandaue pegged it at P95,000;
P6,737.79 for Apex-type lamppost as against Mandaue’s
P50,000 costing; and P11,750 for dome-like lamppost as
against Mandaue’s P50,0000.
Jalandoni said the prices were jacked up by up to 10
times the actual cost of the materials.
The
Ombudsman rejected the respondents’ explanation in their
respective counteraffidavits, claiming that their act of
signing the Programs of Work and Estimates never had any
weight or value insofar as the implementation of the
streetlighting project was concerned. The DPWH
respondents, for their part, maintained that the price
estimates for the project were all “reasonable and
competitive.”
“Of all
the respondents, DPWH officials are the ones who most
obviously appear to be liable as they are the ones who
approved all the programs of work, awarded the projects
to the winning contractors and executed the
corresponding contacts,” Gutierrez averred.
On the
part of the respondent local officials, Gutierrez ruled
they could not be exculpated from the charges.
“As
properly designated officials with the duty to protect
the government at all times, they should have been
discerning in affixing their signatures on the lighting
facilities,” she said. |
