Batangas town mayor charged with graft

Batangas City , Philippines  – The Office of the Ombudsman filed graft charges before the Sandiganbayan against a municipal mayor of Batangas for procuring computers in 2004 in the amount of P8.18-million without the benefit of public bidding.

In a three-page information, approved by Acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro, charged for violating section 3E of RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act is Lemery, Batangas Mayor Raul Bendaña.

In the investigation conducted by Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer I Vladimir Pelaez, probable cause was found against Bendaña and he is probably guilty of the said crime and must be held for trial.

It was stated in the document that sometime on Aug. 31, Bendaña, being the municipal mayor of Lemery, Batangas committed an offense in relation to his public office “with deliberate intent, with manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence, did then and there, willfully entered into a contract with Amellar Solutions.”

The respondent’s contract with Amellar Solutions was represented by Manuel Tabunda, for the computerization of the Revenue Generation System of the municipality of Lemery in the amount of P6,188,737 “without following the procedures provided for under RA 9184 otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act.”

“As there was no competitive bidding conducted and said direct contracting is not allowed under RA 9184 and as such, Amellar Solutions was paid the full amount of P8,188,737 as per disbursement orders dated Nov. 11, 2004 and Dec. 20, 2004 of the Land Bank of the Philippines,” the information said.