Former SRA administrator charged

A former acting administrator of the Sugar Regulatory Administration was indicted at the Sandiganbayan yesterday after he unlawfully sold in August 1996 an equipment that deprived the government of around P2.4 million in much-needed revenues.

Rolleo Ignacio was sued based on the complaint filed before the Ombudsman of his successor Michael Suarez, who disclosed that his predecessor sold the SRA Dredger in Bacolod City for just P3.2 million on "installment basis" even if this was worth P5.6 million.

Ombudsman probers said Ignacio was liable for graft having granted Sealand Development Corp., the buyer of the SRA equipment, unwarranted benefit and deprived the government of revenues since the Commission on Audit appraised it at a higher value. The COA appraisal, they pointed out, "deserves greater weight and credence, taking into account the special knowledge and expertise this agency has gained in handling the specific matters under its jurisdiction."

Investigators said the ex-SRA chief had "no authority" to conduct the negotiated sale, even if the two previous biddings were a failure, considering that the SRA Board didn’t approve the deal. "The Board did not ratify nor confirm the contract. It is very patent that Ignacio acted in evident bad faith deliberately ignoring basic office rules and procedures."

Ignacio, according to the Evaluation and Preliminary Investigation Bureau, was "never clothed with authority to enter into a contract of negotiated sale since there was no Board resolution to that effect." They said it was obviously a deal "manifestly and grossly disadvantageous to the government." Graft probers likewise held that Ignacio was ‘deemed to have waived his right" to air his defense after he failed to submit his rebuttal to the charges, as well as the request of SRA bidding committee chairman Bienvenido Zaragoza for him to explain where he got his authority to close the deal.

"Obviously, Ignacio failed to act on the request for authority to conduct negotiated sale and arrogated upon himself the authority to conduct the same despite the absence of a Board resolution granting him so," the EPIB stated in its seven-page resolution.

The Ombudsman disclosed further that instead of turning over the needed documents, Ignacio "furnished them copies of payments not in full but in installments, in clear violation of the bidding procedure requiring full payment of the purchase price."

Ignacio’s act, the Ombudsman ruled, was "done in unexplained haste without proper consultations" with the two other SRA Board members. A P30,000 bail bond was recommended for Ignacio’s temporary liberty.