Vicencio, 5 others face graft raps in Malabon

Malabon City Mayor Amado "Boy" Vicencio and five other city officials are facing graft charges for alleged anomalies surrounding the construction of a new city hall worth P122 million.

The Office of the Ombudsman filed charges of violation of RA 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, against Vicencio with the Sandiganbayan for the allegedly anomalous awarding of the contract to build the new city hall in Barangay Catmon to a disqualified bidder.

Named as the mayor’s co-accused were Ma. Lida Sarmiento, Pio Dadula, Virdeo Cruz, Ernesto Pabusta, and re-elected Councilor Lauro Borja. All were members of the Prequalification, Bids, and Awards Committee (PBAC), with Vicencio as chairman.

A P30,000 bail bond for each of the accused was recommended by the Ombudsman for their temporary liberty.

Another PBAC member, Councilor Payapa Ona was exonerated of the charges after her participation in the acts being questioned was not sufficiently established. Ona, in fact, had attested to the existence of the anomaly.

Results of the investigation conducted by Ombudsman prosecutor Rosano Oliva showed that all the accused "virtually, unlawfully, and criminally gave unwarranted benefits" to the joint venture of Serg Construction and the Principal Management Group, Inc. (PMGI) after the city government awarded them the contract for the construction of the new city hall.

Councilors Eddie Torres and Chiqui Roque had alleged that PBAC pre-qualified the joint venture of PMGI and Sergcon Development Corp., but the local government awarded the contract to PMGI and Serg Construction, reportedly a different company from Sergcon.

This prompted Torres and Roque to file administrative and criminal charges against Vicencio with the Office of the Ombudsman.

In his investigation, Oliva said the accused "very well knew" that at the time the contract was awarded, the joint venture had no consortium special license from the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB).

Moreover, the contract itself lacked the approval of the Office of the President, a requirement for local government projects worth P50 million or more. – Nikko Dizon and Jerry Botial