BUSINESSMAN Crisologo Saavedra described as a delaying tactic the move of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 officials to ask the Sandiganbayan to dismiss the amended case against them over the purchase of allegedly overpriced lampposts.

Saavedra was reacting to a www.inquirer.net report that the DPWH 7 officials involved in the alleged lamppost scam have asked the Sandiganbayan to junk the amended
graft case.

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The amended case resulted from the reinvestigation by the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas, which incorporated the findings of the Commission on Audit (COA) on the purchase of lampposts in Cebu for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in 2006.

According to the www.inquirer.net report, the DPWH officials said the reinvestigation should have been done by the prosecution, through the Office of the Special Prosecutor, not the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas.

They said the ombudsman is biased since it had filed the earlier information against them due to “pressure from the media.”

“That is part of their legal maneuver and they have the right to do it,” Saavedra told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday.

“But they cannot question the prerogative of the Visayas Ombudsman on who will conduct the reinvestigation for the good of the country. It is the prerogative of the Office of the Ombudsman to use the best option.”

Saavedra also said the amended complaint is stronger than the first complaint against former DPWH 7 director Robert Lala, former assistant director Gloria Dindin, Assistant Director and Bids and Awards Committee Chairperson Marlina Alviso, Maintenance Division Chief Pureza Fernandez and Maintenance Ddivision Assistant
Chief Crescencio Bagolor.

“The case is now stronger with the additional findings of COA. The three persons that composed the Technical Working Group of DPWH, who were remiss in their duty to review the documents of the lampposts (purchase), were even included in the amended complaint,” Saavedra said.

He said the contract between the lampposts contractor and the government was not notarized. While there were notarized sub-contracts, these were not entered into the DPWH records.

P45M

According to computations by the COA and the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas, the government lost over P45 million from the allegedly overpriced purchase.

In a report to Tanodbayan Merceditas Gutierrez, a special panel of investigators, headed by Assistant Ombudsman Virginia Santiago, said the government should have paid only P118,973,271 to the two suppliers.

However, the cost of acquisition facilitated by DPWH officials ballooned to P164,524,401.25.

These officials allegedly colluded with the suppliers and the local government officials from Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities.

The contract reached P24,975,000 but COA estimated its actual value at P16,229,434.23 or, at most, P17,487,862, per the anti-graft office’s own research.

Last May, Gutierrez revived the indictments of 21 people in four separate cases before the Sandiganbayan as a result of the anti-graft office’s investigation on the issue.

The indictments were originally filed last year but were withdrawn so a formal report from the COA could be incorporated.