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Sunday, October 19, 2008
Ombud: Lamps cases ‘strong’
CEBU CITY -- The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas said Saturday it has a strong case against the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and local government officials behind the purchase of allegedly overpriced street lamps.
“The cases are not weak,” Ombudsman-Visayas Director Virginia Palanca-Santiago said. She refused to comment further, saying it might be prejudicial to the case.
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The Office of the Ombudsman in Manila, according to a report by gmanews.tv, withdrew two of six graft cases it filed just six months ago against DPWH officials and local government executives, in connection with the alleged overpricing of lampposts for the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Cebu last year.
It said it was difficult to prove the allegations of graft against the officials involved. Another case has been remanded due to “procedural infirmities.”
According to memorandums signed by Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio and Tanodbayan Merceditas N. Gutierrez last October 15, the prosecution is now in doubt that it can prove its allegations that the lamppost deals with private defendants were indeed overpriced.
Limited
The private defendants are Isabelo Braza, president of supplier Fabmik Construction Equipment Supply Co. Inc., and Gerardo Surla, chairman of Gampik Construction and Development Inc.
“The information on these cases covers only the price for lampposts excluding labor costs, transportation costs and other expenses incidental to the installation of the lampposts. Hence, it would be very difficult to prove that the said contract entered into by the Government was indeed manifestly and grossly disadvantageous as the entire contract should be taken into consideration to prove the commission of the crime,” they said.
But the withdrawal of the cases should not be taken to mean the case is weak, Santiago said Saturday.
She said that she is still waiting for an order from Gutierrez if the Ombudsman-Visayas will conduct the reinvestigation or if Manila investigators will do it.
At least 21 officials are facing charges for allegedly jacking up prices of the decorative lamps used during the Asean summit in Cebu.
Two of those charged were Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza and former Mandaue City mayor Thadeo Ouano.
Paper trail
Earlier, Santiago said there have been motions to withdraw the case information to incorporate the latest Commission on Audit (COA) report in relation to the overpricing of lampposts.
Tanodbayan Gutierrez issued an order last July 30 authorizing Deputy Special Prosecutor Robert Kallos to withdraw the case information for violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019).
Gutierrez’s order stated that the withdrawal was “to conduct further investigation with the end in view of obtaining additional evidence in the light of the audit report” prepared by the COA.
But according to the report by gmanews.tv, Acting Deputy Special Prosecutor Jesus Micael and Prosecution Bureau II Acting Director Danilo Lopez are apprehensive about the authenticity of some documents.
Sun.Star Cebu reported last week that the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division granted the motion to withdraw the case for reinvestigation.
The division chaired by Associate Justice Gregory Ong, and the Second Division chaired by Associate Justice Edilberto Sandoval are handling the cases against Mandaue City officials.
Cases
Aside from former mayor Ouano, also facing charges are Mandaue City Engineer Hidelisa Latonio, Assistant Engineers Gregorio Omo, Mario Gerolaga, Alfredo Sanchez Jr. and Rosalina Denque.
The two cases also impleaded former DPWH-Central Visayas director Roberto Lala, assistant directors Gloria Dindin and Marlina Alvizo, division chiefs Pureza Fernandez, Augustinito Hermoso, Luis Galang, Restituto Diano and Buenaventura Pajo, as well as Fabmik Construction and Equipment Supply Co. Inc.’s Isabelo Braza.
The latest motion to withdraw involved the case pending in the Second Division.
The Sandiganbayan’s Third Division also remanded a case to the Ombudsman-Visayas last August 1.
The cases involving Radaza, Lapu-Lapu City Engineer Julito Cuizon and Assistant Engineers Fernando Tagaan and Rogelio Veloso, are pending at the Fifth and First Divisions, chaired by Presiding Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro and Associate Justice Maria Cristina Cortez-Estrada, respectively.
But warrants of arrest were issued against the three engineers, who were released after they posted bail of P30,000 each.
Playing it safe
Three other cases impleading only the DPWH officials and Gerardo Surla of Gampik are with the Fourth, Fifth and First Divisions.
Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol was unreachable Saturday, but in an earlier interview, he said that his office was just “playing safe” when it decided to do a reinvestigation.
But businessman Crisologo Saavedra is seeking the support of media and the public against the maneuvering and railroading of the lampposts case.
“All of these can be overcome because I have all the evidence to prove that each lamppost was overpriced by about P160,000 to P170,000 in installation and civil works,” Saavedra said.
He said the media and the public must be vigilant so that those who want to maneuver the case during the reinvestigation would not succeed.
Saavedra said that based on official documents, each lamppost was pegged at P50,000 when in fact it was only P14,000. Including the cost for installation, the total cost was at P224,000 each. This means the installation alone cost P192,000.
Costs
Saavedra said that if the legal procedure is followed, with the cost of labor not exceeding 40 percent of the material installed, then the cost of installation should only be between P20,000 and P25,000. Each post is overpriced by P160,000 to P170,000, he said.
Saavedra reminded the Office of the Ombudsman that his evidence includes contracts entered into by the subcontractors of the lampposts projects who complained they were not being paid.
“I will use these contracts to prove the overpricing once the Office of the Ombudsman will start with the reinvestigation,” he said.
Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes, when sought for reaction, said he does not believe the defendants, including former mayor Ouano, could get off the hook that easily. “(The charge) It’s not as simple as that. They (the investigators) have to dig deeper,” Cortes told Sun.Star Cebu on Saturday.
But Ouano, in a statement, said the vindication came too late.
“Nalipay ko nga napamatud-an nga wa gyud ko’y kalambigitan sa lamppost controversy (I’m happy that they’ve proven that I have no involvement in the controversy). But the damage has been done. My name has already been ridiculed. My family’s honor has been destroyed. I have paid a steep price. Sila man nagdaut nako, sila ra sad ron (they have wronged me but they are also the ones who) nag-exonerate nako. I hope that those who have wronged me will be at peace,” read Ouano’s statement as texted by his public relations consultant Jonji Gonzales. (JGA/EOB/CYR/OCP/gmanews.tv/Sun.Star Cebu)
(October 19, 2008 issue)
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