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Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Mayor in lamppost case barred from public office
CEBU CITY -- If former Mandaue City mayor Thadeo Ouano has plans of making a political comeback, seeking government appointment, or just working in City Hall, his first obstacle will be the anti-graft office.
Assistant Ombudsman Virginia Santiago said their recent decision on the "lamppost scam" disqualified Ouano from holding any government post.
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The ruling, Santiago said, "administratively convicted" Ouano for grave misconduct, a crime penalized by dismissal from service and perpetual disqualification from holding any government position.
She said while the Ombudsman decision came out when Ouano was no longer in government, Tanodbayan Merceditas Gutierrez was unequivocal in her intent to have him administratively convicted still.
In fact, Santiago said, Gutierrez wanted the dismissal indicated in Ouano's permanent file.
"If this isn't reversed by a higher court, then, indeed, he can no longer run for any government post," she said.
Names
She added that even before the May 2007 polls, the anti-graft office had been furnishing the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) with names of people it has dismissed from service and perpetually disqualified from working in government.
Like the CSC, the Comelec will use the list when verifying the certificates of candidacy of all those running for public office.
She said a Tacloban City incident, where a person convicted of malversation ran and won a barangay council seat, triggered the practice of giving other agencies updated lists.
Ouano is among the 18 public officials held administratively responsible for grave misconduct over the 12th Asean summit lamppost scam.
They were all ordered dismissed from service and disqualified from holding any other government post in a 25-page decision Gutierrez signed last Monday.
Overpriced
Ouano is also among the 21 officials ordered criminally charged before the Sandiganbayan for violating the Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The controversy involves the alleged overpriced purchase and installation of decorative lamps in the streets of the cities of Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Cebu as part of the preparation for the Asean summit last year.
In Mandaue, lamppost models that cost only P7,536.96, P8,121.20, P9,523.37, P6,737.79, and P11,750.00, according to import documents from China, were reflected to be worth P72,500, P85,500, P95,000, and P50,000, respectively, in the program of works and estimates (Powe).
Ordered dismissed from service were Ouano; ex-Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Central Visayas Director Robert Lala; assistant directors Gloria Dindin and Marlina Alvizo; division chiefs Pureza Fernandez, Cresencio Bagolor, Luis Galang, Restituto Diano, Buenaventura Pajo; and regional legal officer Agustinito Hermoso.
Also ordered dismissed were Acting Mandaue City Engineer Hidelisa Latonio and Assistant Engineers Gregorio Omo, Mario Gerolaga, Alfredo Sanchez Sr. and Rosalina Denque, as well as Lapu-Lapu City Engineer Julito Cuizon, and Assistant Engineers Fernando Tagaan Jr. and Rogelio Veloso.
They were all impleaded in a criminal case together with Fabmik Construction and Equipment Supply Co. Incorporated's Isabelo Barza, Gampik Construction and Development Inc.'s Gerardo Surla, Ouano, and Lapu-Lapu Mayor Arturo Radaza.
Up for appeal
The dismissal and its ancillary penalties, although set for immediate enforcement, is not yet final and executory.
Santiago said Ouano and his lawyers can still file a motion for reconsideration or submit an appeal to the Court of Appeals.
According to the Ombudsman, there was apparent collusion between those that prepared the Powe and the contractor because the Powe figures coincided with the amount stipulated in the contractor's bid proposal.
Ouano, at the height of the Ombudsman investigation, denied any involvement in the lampposts' purchase.
He said the City Government made the Powe for single arm, double arm, and triple arm streetlights upon the instruction of the DPWH, solely for securing a budget source.
He said he did not know that the City engineers had used as reference figures what was contained in a feasibility and cost study submitted by supplier Fabmik for a separate street lighting project.
He said he never participated in preparing the Powe even until it was transmitted to and approved by the DPWH 7.
For the decorative lampposts, he said, the DPWH made the Powe and simply asked them to affix their signatures. (KNR of Sun.Star Cebu/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Baguio. (April 23, 2008 issue)
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