Ombudsman OKs criminal raps vs solon over PDAF scam

MANILA, Philippines – The Office of the Ombudsman on Wednesday found probable cause to charge a former Eastern Samar solon for his involvement in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.

After the Commission on Audit’s (COA) probe, the Ombudsman found proof to charge former Eastern Samar Rep. Teodulo ““Doloy” Coquilla with two counts each of Malversation and violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019.

Based on the investigation, Coquilla received P5 million as part as part of his PDAF for the acquisition of instructional materials and seedlings in October 2007. He then entered a Memorandum of Agreement to implement the project for the procurement of 32,887 calamundin, rambutan, chico and mango seedlings, and 10,470 instructional materials intended for his constituents in the municipalities of Dolores, Maslog, Jipapad, Lawaan and Guiuan, where he identified National Agri-Business Corporation (NABCOR) as the implementing agency and GABAYMASA as his non-government organization (NGO) project partner.

Coquilla signed the Certificate of Acceptance and Acknowledgement Receipt for the project.

The probe further revealed that there were procurement rules grossly violated since the suppliers were unregistered business entities under non-existent addresses. 

 The supplier of seedlings was found to be a garden shop engaged in the selling of rocks, pebbles, grass and landscaping services while the supplier for the instructional materials is located in a residential area and sells car batteries and wheel interiors, according to the discreet surveillance conducted by the Field Investigation Office.

“No fruit seedlings or instructional materials (were) distributed to beneficiaries” and “at the time material to the charges, the suppliers did not possess the required accreditation to transact” as “it had no track record in project implementation,” COA said in its probe.

Due to the result of the investigation, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales ruled to dismiss Coquilla’s defense stating that his signatures were forged and resolved that his denial no matter how vehement, is still insufficient to prove forgery.

The approved resolution also explained that “there is cohesion and interconnection in the respondents’ intent and purpose” and that “the role played by each of them was so indispensable to the success of their scheme, that without any of them, the same would have failed.”

“As the legislator responsible for the control and/or disposition of funds, drawn from his PDAF allocations, (Coquilla) is an accountable officer,” Carpio-Morales said.

“To be able to repeatedly divert substantial funds from the PDAF, access thereto must be made available, and this was made possible by Coquilla who chose GABAYMASA to implement his PDAF-related undertakings,” she added.

Aside from Coquilla,  Ombudsman also included NABCOR officials namely Alan Javellana, Encarnita-Cristina Munsod, Ma. Julie Villaralvo-Johnson and Romulo Relevo, and GABAYMASA officials, Margie Luz and Ma. Cristina Vizcarra  in the charge sheet.