THE Office of the Ombudsman ordered the dismissal from the service of three officials from the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) Bukidnon Provincial Irrigation Office for uncovering multiple irregularities in the 2009 procurement of fertilizers worth P9,447,200.
Found guilty for gross neglect of duty are NIA-Division manager Editha Abdon, Admin and Finance head Adelina Calonge, and principal engineer Leonila Tenestrante.
The penalty of dismissal from the service carries the accessory penalties of perpetual disqualification from holding public office, forfeiture of retirement benefits, bar from taking the civil service exam, and cancellation of civil service eligibility.
Investigation conducted by the Ombudsman in Mindanao (OMB-Min) found that in June 2009, the NIA regional office received P10 million for the implementation of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) bio-organic fertilizer program.
Out of the P10 million, the NIA purchased thousands of bags/liters of organic fertilizers and pesticides from the following suppliers: 3K & C Enterprises, Dating Bayan Agro Industrial Corporation, MLB Enterprises and EMP Feed Mix Manufacturing.
It was uncovered that the suppliers failed to meet the required product specifications and quality standards; projects were awarded without the benefit of public bidding; supplier 3K is a business firm owned by Regina Salazar, wife of then NIA administrator Carlos Salazar; there was splitting of projects; and no post-qualification proceedings were undertaken to ensure the capability of the suppliers to undertake the project.
Ombudsman decision stated that the accused committed serious neglect of duty: Abdon and Calonge by certifying that the supporting documents for the first tranche disbursements were complete, when in fact this was not the case; and Tenestrante for failing to conduct real post-qualification of MLB as required by the law.
As there was no justification for the resort to shopping, not to mention the apparent splitting of the P9,477,200, Abdon should not have permitted the disbursements from the fund. Calonge, as head, also allowed the disbursement notwithstanding the lack of public bidding. (ICT)