THE Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the filing of graft and corruption charges against four government officials from Mindanao.
Facing charges for violation of the Republic Act 3019 or The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices, are Caraga town Mayor William Duma-an and treasurer Arnold Samon, of the Davao Oriental province.
The Ombudsman found probable cause to charge Duma-an and Samon for graft and corruption, for the alleged non-compliance with the requirements of public bidding for the projects of the Caraga municipality.
In a report issued by the Ombudsman dated February 13, its investigators found Duma-an and Samon authorized and facilitated the procurement of the heavy equipment worth P32.7 million in 2011.
“No public bidding was done for the acquisition and payment was approved without a requisite documentation,” the Ombudsman said, adding that it found that the equipment procured were not brand new.
The Commission on Audit (COA) issued a notice of suspension last December 2011, which ripened into the notice of disallowance in October 2012 after the accused failed to settle the audit findings through submission of procurement documents.
In a separate resolution, the Ombudsman found former Sominot town Mayor Teodoro Acosta of the Zamboanga del Sur liable for three counts for violation of “The Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.”
Acosta reportedly failed to file his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth for the years 2005, 2012 and 2013, thus, the charges were filed against him.
“It is imperative that every public official [must] make and submit a complete disclosure of assets, liabilities and net worth to suppress any questionable accumulation of wealth,” the Ombudsman said.
Former Regional Director Yusoph Mama of the Department of Agrarian Reform in Butuan City, on the other hand, was charged with malversation of public funds for failing to liquidate his cash advances pegged at P184,904.
Records showed Mama's cash advance in 1997 remains unliquidated despite repeated demand letters sent by the COA.