Ex-Camarines Norte guv convicted for faking public docs

MANILA, Philippines – The Sandiganbayan on Thursday sentenced a former Camarines Norte governor and officer-in-charge (OIC) of the General Services Office after being found guilty of falsifying public documents.

Former Camarines Norte Gov. Jesus Typoco and OIC of General Services Office Noel Reyes were convicted to a prison term of two years, four months and one day as minimum, to eight years and one day as maximum based on the anti-graft court’s ruling penned by Associate Justice Rodolfo Ponferrada.

“There was conspiracy between Typoco Jr. and Reyes as shown by their respective participation in the alteration of the date of the PO (purchase order) in question," Ponferrada said in his 30-page decision.

Camarines Norte adopted a Medical Indigency Program to provide its citizens medicines and hospitalization services in 2005. Typoco authorized the purchase of medicines worth P1.645 million to implement the project.

Based on the Ombudsman prosecutors’ evidence, the delivery, inspection and payment for the medicines took effect in April 2005 but allegedly, a public bidding was held May 18, 2005 and Typoco was issued a Notice of Award a date later, May 19, 2005.

Due to the inconsistency, State Auditor III Nemia Nora of the Commission on Audit (COA) cited several deficiencies in the procurement of medicines that led to the Sandiganbayan ruling against Typoco and Reyes.

According to Nemia’s testimony, there were alteration, tampering and erasures in the PO, inspection and acceptance report and sales invoice; non-submission of the list of individual recipients of the medicines; undated and unnumbered Request and Issue Slip approved by Typoco; undated Report of Utilization approved by Typoco resulting to COA's inability to determine the actual date of disposal of the medicines; and absence of an invitation to the COA to attend the alleged bidding.

"[T]his alteration or change in the original date of the subject PO constitutes falsification of official document because it affected not only its veracity but it also changed the time when it was prepared and approved to make the document speak something false...when in truth and fact the PO in question was already approved on April 21 without any public bidding," the Sandiganbayan said in its ruling.