STO. TOMAS -- A mayoralty bet here has been charged with alleged graft and corruption before the Office of the Ombudsman for Luzon.
Documents obtained by Sun.Star Pampanga revealed that incumbent Magalang Vice-Mayor Norman Lacson, who is seeking reelection, and Councilor Maria Lourdes Lacson, who is running for mayor in Magalang town filed the complaint on November 16, 2015 against Sto. Tomas mayoral candidate Fausto Sengson, former Magalang municipal treasurer, along with Magalang Municipal Accountant Teresita Lakandula and re-electionist Mayor Romulo Pecson, and certain John Does and/or Jane Does.
The complainant seeks a formal investigation claiming that Sengson, Lakandula and Pecson, allegedly violated provisions in Republic Act 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Act and Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Vice-Mayor Lacson and Councilor Lacson stated in their complaint-affidavit that Commission on Audit (COA) Supervising Auditor Emma Inos-Talens enumerated a number unlawful acts and irregularities in the 2014 COA report dated April 28, 2015.
Sangguniang Bayan Resolution 57, which was reportedly proposed by Pecson, allowed the hiring of a private lawyer to represent the municipal government in two cases before trial courts without authorization from the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor, according to the complainants.
Lawyer Francisco Yabut started representing the town even before the adoption of the resolution, they added.
Aside from this, the respondents were allegedly found to have purchased non-common use items that were not originally included in the Annual Procurement Plan (APP).
The COA report states, "The non common use supplies and the mode of procurement to be undertaken were not included and specified in the APP contrary to Paragraph 3.2 of Government Procedure on Policy Board (GPPB) Circular Number 01-2009."
Purchases totalling P5,205,010.80 were done through Shopping/Small Value Procurement which is prohibited under Sections 52.1 and 53.9 of the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 9184.
Sengson, Lakandula and Pecson also allegedly violated Section 54.1 of RA 9184 in the splitting of contracts to avoid public competitive bidding, the complainants stated.
Splitting of government contract, or the breaking up of GOP contracts into smaller quantities and amounts for the purposed of circumventing the requirements of law, is not allowed, they added.
The COA report also detailed purchases of office supplies, rice and various items totalling to P4,383,614.65 made through Shopping/Small Value Procurement instead of public bidding.
The complainants claimed that this also resulted to splitting of purchase orders and requests, which is prohibited under the IRR of RA 9184 and COA Circular 76-41.
The respondents must be held criminally liable also for the hiring of excessive "job order" employees, the complainants stated.
The local government hired a total of 521 job order employees, 93 regular workers, 86 casual employees and 33 consultants, it was learned.
The hiring of more job order employees caused "undue strain in the scarce resources of the government," according to the complainants.
Sengson and the two other officials are also being accused of illegally purchasing equipment amounting to more than P3 million.
With these charges, the complainants asked the Office of the Ombudsman to issue a preventive suspension against the three officials pending the investigation.
Sengson: No case
Sengson, however, said that there is no case against him and that the complainants must prove it first.
"Wala naman akong kaso, patunayan muna nila. Kung meron man siguro nilulutu muna nila niyan. May palugit naman eh," Sengson told Sun.Star Pampanga in a phone interview.
"So far, wala pa naman akong tinanggap na kaso, filing pa lang naman," he added.
Sengson also asked his political opponents to play fair.
"Dapat lumaban lang sila ng parehas. Sila kaya wala silang kaso doon sa pagnanakaw na sinasabi nila?" Sengson said.
He also said that because of the election, the case filed against him "might still be under process."
Sun.Star Pampanga tried but failed to reach Pecson and Lakandula for comments at press time.