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Sunday, April 04, 2004
Malabuyoc mayor, 3 others charged over medicine buy
THE Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas has charged Malabuyoc Mayor Lito Narciso E. Creus and three town officials in connection with an illegal purchase of medicines and medical supplies four years ago.
An information for violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act (RA) 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, was recommended to be filed against Creus, Municipal Health Officer Danilo R. Cabigon, Municipal Accountant-Designate Macrina L. Niaga and Procurement Officer-Designate Rochel V. Allera.
Agnes Dumdum, proprietor of MGA Pharmaceuticals, who sold the medicines, will also be criminally charged.
The anti-graft office, in a resolution, said Creus, Cabigon, Niaga and Allera caused the Government injury by doing away with public bidding in procuring the drugs and supplies. Some of the items were later found to be overpriced by 50 percent.
Denying the accusations, Creus and his co-accused described the charges as recycled.
The criminal case is reportedly the sixth to be lodged against the southern town mayor before the Sandiganbayan.
Camilo P. Creus, the mayor’s uncle whom he defeated in the 2001 mayoralty elections, filed the complaint with the assistance of Talisay City Legal Officer Aurora Econg.
Audit
The case is an off-shoot of several dockets stemming from a fact-finding report of the Special Audit Division of the Commission on Audit (COA) 7 on the alleged irregular purchases of medicines and one multi-cab by the municipality.
The audit conducted disclosed that the respondents resorted to splitting of purchase orders or vouchers for the purchase of the medicines and other medical or dental supplies totaling P36,738.
The transactions, done through personal canvass and covered by three separate vouchers which were all dated April 11, 2000, were disallowed by COA 7.
The splitting of transactions was allegedly employed to do away with the requirement of public bidding for purchases above P20,000.
Lito and his co-accused denied the charges and claimed that complainant Camilo was only recycling issues against him, splitting causes of action and multiplicity of suits.
Lito said his accuser was a bad loser whose thirst for power and position have driven him to make malicious allegations to besmirch his reputation.
The mayor said the COA recommendations were only in the nature of disallowances or orders for the refund of certain minimal amounts. They don’t mean a crime has been committed but are just mere suggestions to observe audit rules.
But the anti-graft office brushed aside the respondents’ defense.
It said the respondents failed to present concrete evidence negating COA 7’s findings that they resorted to a splitting of requisitions to avoid public bidding.
The participation of respondent Lito, Cabigon, Niaga and Allera in their official capacities had made the questioned transactions possible.
As shown in the records, three separate purchase orders were prepared with supporting papers duly signed by them.
Other than the avoidance of public bidding so that a choice of supplier can be clandestinely advanced, the respondents had no evidence to justify the splitting of requisitions. RJ
(April 4, 2004 issue)
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