Ecija gov, 2 others charged for loan scam

CABANATUAN CITY – Embattled Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali, already mired in a sea of graft suits for alleged mismanagement barely a year in office, was slapped with yet another one after Vice Gov. Edward Thomas Joson filed another graft case before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly entering into a loan agreement with the Land Bank of the Philippines without the required authorization from the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.

Joson, eldest son of former four-time governor Tomas Joson III, filed the 10-page complaint-affidavit before the Ombudsman’s central records division Wednesday afternoon.

Also named in the suit were provincial treasurer Edilberto Pancho and Regina Nimes,department manager and head of the Nueva Ecija Lending Center of the LBP.

“Hindi ko alam kung papano niyang lulusutan ito. Masyadong damaging ang evidence (I don’t know how he could get it through. The evidence is too damaging to be ignored),” he told The STAR.

In his complaint, Joson accused the respondents of committing gross violations of RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Section 468 of RA 7160 or the Local Government Code and of grave abuse of discretion, misconduct in office and irregularity in the performance of their duties.

The complaint sought a prayer for the preventive suspension of the respondents pending decision on the case.

In the complaint, Joson said Umali, by himself and without authority from the SP, requested for a drawdown from the provincial government’s approved P370-million with the LBP allegedly to finance the construction of the Gapan District Hospital and the Eduardo L. Joson Memorial Hospital in Cabanatuan City. The ELJMH is named after the vice governor’s late grandfather, former six-term governor Eduardo Joson Sr.

The loan was approved by the Land Bank, led by Nimes on Nov. 23,2006 when Joson III was still the sitting governor. The loan was for the establishment of a P370-million Omnibus Term Loan Facility to finance various projects of the province contained in its Local Development Plan.

Records of the case, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR, showed that on Dec. 11, 2006, the SP then headed by Joson III’s younger brother, then vice governor Mariano Cristino Joson, passed Resolution 420-S-2006 ratifying the loan agreement executed between the provincial government and LBP.

Joson III subsequently signed the Notice of Loan Approvals sent by LBP.

Joson noted in his complaint that Joson III was specifically and exclusively authorized by the SP to sign, execute, endorse and deliver any promissory notes and related documents regarding the transaction.

But after Umali took over, the complaint stated, he requested the LBP on Aug. 7 for a drawdown of the approved loan for which Nimes required him to submit the required documents.

However, it added, Umali was able to induce Nimes to facilitate his request for a drawdown from the OTLF without requiring him to submit three vital SP resolutions namely, one approving the projects, another authorizing Umali to ask for a drawdown from the provincial government’s approved loan with LBP, and a third resolution authorizing him to sign the documents pertaining to the requested drawdown and to receive the proceeds.

“Respondents Umali and Pancho signed for and in behalf of the province the loan documents knowing very well that their acts are not accompanied with the above-stated documents,” the complaint stated.

In the case of Nimes, the complaint cited that she allowed herself to be persuaded, induced or influenced by Umali to release the money without requiring him to submit the mandatory documents in violation of the OTLF’s terms and conditions and the provisions of the LGC.

After the requested drawdown was illegally and invalidly released, Umali proceeded with the construction of the GDH and the ELJMH, Joson said.

The vice governor stressed that Resolution 420-S-2006 passed by the previous SP specifically and exclusively authorized only then Gov. Tomas Joson III and that the incumbent members of the SP never passed a resolution granting Umali the same authority vested in the former governor.

Joson also decried that Nimes, in having the OTLF approved, required Joson III then to submit an SP resolution. “It is quite surprising why this time, Nimes did not require Gov. Umali to submit a Sangguniang Panlalawigan resolution of the same tenor,” he said in his complaint.