Sandiganbayan convicts 2 ex-DILG officials in 'pork' case

MANILA, Philippines - Two former regional directors of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) have been convicted by the Sandiganbayan for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in connection with projects funded with the Countrywide Development Fund (CDF), the old name of the Priority Development Assistance Fund or the pork barrel.

Found guilty by the graft court for violation of Section 3(e) of the anti-graft law were Carlos Derecho (7 counts) and Quirino Libunao (2 counts), former regional directors of the DILG in Caraga Region.

The correponding punishment for each count of the violation was six years and one month up to 10 years with perpetual disqualification of from holding office.

The case was spurred by the Commission on Audit's (COA) special audit on the use of the CDF allocated to former Surigao del Norte 1st District Rep. Constantino Navarro.

The audit covered transactions from 1997 to 1998 involving the amount of P13,832,569.38.

Navarro is yet to be arraigned pending evaluation of his mental condition.

The Sandiganbayan found that on separate occasions, the CDF was used to purchase assorted medicines, shabu testing kits, rice paddy plows, notebooks, ballpens, and blackboard erasers without public bidding, with the DILG-Caraga acting as the implementing agency.

During the trial, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) presented evidence to prove that direct contracting was unjustified in view of the availability of substitutes in the market.

The Sandiganbayan found that the suppliers were pre-selected by the office of Navarro before the actual procurement took place.

It concluded that the dispensation of public bidding unduly benefited the suppliers Revelstone Sales International, E.G. Trading, San Marino Laboratories Corporation, and Mr. Bethel Pharmaceutical.

The ruling penned by Associate Justice Efren dela Cruz said that the suppliers “were pre-chosen to supply, for no good reasons at all that cut them above the rest from the pools of suppliers available in the market who could have supplied similar products had there been a public bidding.”

It added that Derecho and Libunao’s bad faith is evident in their signatures in the documents consisting of disbursement vouchers, invoices, purchase orders and checks.

Co-accused Iluminada Tuble, Gerardo Rosario, Edwin Dizon and Marlene Corpus, representing the private suppliers, were acquitted for failure to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

However, Tuble was ordered to pay the DILG-Caraga the amount of P1,071,721.80 representing the price difference per box of medicines sold to the local government.

The case against Benito Catindig was dismissed due to his death in 2007 while accused Mario Tokong remains at-large.