Ex-tourism chief Ace Durano, 5 others face graft raps

MANILA, Philippines — Former secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano and five other former officials of the Department of Tourism (DOT) have been charged with graft before the Sandiganbayan in connection with an alleged anomalous wall calendar project in 2008.

The Office of the Ombudsman, which filed the case on March 22, said Durano and his five co-accused must be prosecuted for violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, a provision which prohibits public officials from giving unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference to a private party or from causing any party, including the government, undue injury.

Named as Durano’s co-accused were former tourism undersecretary and bids and awards committee chairman Oscar Palabyab and former BAC members Grace Yoro, Eduardo Jarque Jr., Evelyn Cajigal and Adriana Flor.

Based on the charge sheet prepared by ombudsman’s graft investigation and prosecution officer Maria Vida Hechanova, the DOT, during Durano’s term as secretary in 2008, awarded a P2.7-million contract to PDP Digital Inc. for the “conceptualization and development” of a back-to-back wall calendar in connection with the agency’s tourism promotion campaign.

The ombudsman said the contract was awarded to PDP Digital without the benefit of a public bidding as required under RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act. It added that, without providing a valid justification, the BAC issued a resolution in November 2008 recommending direct contracting as an alternative mode of procurement for the wall calendar conceptualization deal.

The ombudsman said the BAC did not even conduct an industry survey to determine the most deserving contractor for the project and to justify its decision to dispense with public bidding.

Following the passage of the BAC resolution, the ombudsman said Durano, on Dec. 2, 2008, issued a certification identifying PDP Digital as the service provider for the project.

The ombudsman said that even prior to the issuance of the BAC resolution and DOT certification, Durano already “unilaterally” entered into a memorandum of agreement dated Oct. 17, 2008 with PDP Digital for the calendar conceptualization deal, “thereby giving unwarranted benefits or preference to PDP Digital Inc. to the prejudice of the government.”

It recommended to the Sandiganbayan to set the respondents’ bail bond at P30,000.

The charge sheet was approved by former ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales on July 17, 2018 and by her successor Samuel Martires on Jan. 29, 2019 but the case was formally filed at the Sandiganbayan only on March 22.

The enactment of RA 10910 in July 2016 has increased the prescriptive period for graft case to 20 years from the previous 15 years provided under Section 11 of RA 3019. This means that graft charges can still be filed against public officials even after 20 years from the commission of the crime.