THE Office of the Ombudsman has charged Mayor Oscar Moreno yet again along with four other former Provincial Government officials for new graft charges before the Sandiganbayan, the country’s anti-graft court.
In a resolution approved last February 23 this year, Moreno, the former Misamis Oriental Governor, and erstwhile officials Acting Provincial Accountant Divina Bade, Acting Provincial Budget Officer Elmer Wabe, Provincial Administrator Patrick Gabutina and Assistant Provincial Engineer Rolando Pacuribot, were ordered charged with one count for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The new resolution was posted at the Ombudsman's website on Friday, March 16.
Records show that from October 2, 2009 to October 2, 2010, respondents approved the rental of one unit of excavator from Equiprent Corporation (Equiprent) amounting to P2,963,520, without undergoing any public bidding.
The Ombudsman said the respondents instead resorted to a negotiated procurement and cited the typhoon and weather disturbances that hit the province from 2009 to 2012 as the reasons for the immediate purchase.
Aside from the absence of public bidding, the Ombudsman also noted other procurement irregularities, like the contractor's non-registration with the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the non-submission of documents required by the Government Procurement Reform Act.
PhilGEPS is a centralized electronic portal that serves as the primary and definitive source of information on government procurement.
Government agencies, as well as suppliers, contractors, manufacturers, distributors and consultants, are mandated to register and use the system in the conduct of procurement of goods, civil works and consulting services.
According to the Ombudsman, the Commission on Audit (COA) upon its audit, issued a Notice of Suspension (NS) No. 2014-006-101 (2010) on June 6, 2014 naming respondents as the persons liable for “the deficiencies in the required transaction processes and the lack of the necessary supporting documents.” However on November 10, 2014, the COA noted that the NS has already ripened into a disallowance .
“Their acts constitute evident bad faith and they should be held liable for giving unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference to Equiprent,” the resolution says.
Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019 prohibits public officers from causing any undue injury to any party, including the government, or giving any private party any unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference in the discharge of official function through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence.
Last February 18, the Ombudsman also formally charged Mayor Oscar Moreno with graft at the Sandiganbayan for leasing one excavator from the same contractor, the Equiprent Corporation for P4 million from December 2007 to July 2008.
This new graft charges are the same but the actions were made in different years.
Also in the month of March alone, Moreno's seven cases were raffled at the Sandiganbayan.
The Sandiganbayan's 6th, 7th, 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 2nd divisions will handle the mayor's cases which stem from Moreno’s time as governor of Misamis Oriental.
Moreno has been ordered dismissed by the Ombudsman multiple times for the same offense but the mayor managed to dodge the dismissal orders by seeking relief from the Court of Appeals.