CEBU, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas has recommended the filing of criminal charges against former Bogo City mayor, now Association of Barangay Councils-Cebu Pre-sident, Celestino “Tining” Martinez III and four appointive officials for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
This after the anti-graft office found probable cause to indict Martinez for allegedly entering into a contract that was “grossly and manifestly disadvantageous to the government,” and causing “any undue injury to any party, including the Government” during his term as mayor.
Along with Martinez, also implicated were municipal (now city) accountant Crescencio Verdida, treasurer Rhett Minguez, budget officer Mary Lou Ursal and assistant treasurer Julio Ursonal, who was also the president and chairman of the board of the Bogo Municipal Employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative.
The resolution of ombudsman stemmed from the release of P20 million in government funds to the BMEMPC.
In March 2007 the Department of Agriculture received the amount supposedly intended for the Ginintuang Agrikulturang Makamasa Program that seeks to address concerns like food security, poverty alleviation and social equity, farmers’ income enhancement and profitability, and sustainability.
Upon the request of then congresswoman Clavel Asas-Martinez, the former mayor’s mother, the DA transferred the amount to the City of Bogo for implementation through a Memorandum of Agreement between the City Government of Bogo and the DA-7.
However, Bogo had entered into a MOA with the employees’ cooperative which became a conduit for the implementation of the GAM program.
The BMEMPC disbursed between April and May 2007 the P20-million financial assistance to its 179 members. The amount of P10.3 million was granted as salary loans to elective officials and municipal employees “without any declared livelihood or agricultural project”.
The P9.7 million was released as loans to nine borrowers who identified livelihood and agricultural projects. The biggest chunk of the loan, as pointed out in the resolution, went to Martinez at P5.5 million for fish and prawn ponds.
Other respondents Minguez and Ursonal received P1 million for mango farm and P500,000 for tricycle units for hire, respectively.
Martinez, in his counter-affidavit, said he wanted to ensure that the P20-million grant was used for its purpose and “efficiently appropriated according to the dictates of his best judgment.”
He reasoned that he entered into a MOA with the cooperative, “an established organization within the municipality,” in order to monitor payments from the fund.
He added that there was nothing in the agreement that prohibited him from availing himself of the grant as long as the loan was devoted to agricultural concerns.
“He states that he has long been engaged in agricultural enterprise and continues to expand the same with the aim of hiring as many as he could to ease the sad plight of the unemployed,” the ombudsman resolution states, quoting Martinez.
Martinez said he did not misappropriate the fund for personal gain to the damage of any third person or the government as the fund was distributed to and utilized by “qualified beneficiaries.”
Respondents Minguez and Verdida, in their joint counter-affidavit, said the agreement between the DA and Bogo did not prohibit the channeling of the fund to the cooperative and did not disqualify members of the cooperative from becoming beneficiaries.
The same was also raised by Ursonal in his counter-affidavit. Ursal, also a respondent, did not file a counter-affidavit.
However, these did not make respondents’ act legal, the ombudsman stated.
The ombudsman said the provisions and implementation of the agreement between the cooperative and Bogo were contrary to the objectives of the GAM program, adding that it also “prejudiced the intended farmer-beneficiaries and other marginalized sectors, and worked against the interest of the DA in pursuance of the GAM.”
The ombudsman pointed out the marginalized sectors of Bogo who should have been identified as target beneficiaries for financial assistance in the form of livelihood or agricultural loans.
“But as it happened, the fund was loaned out exclusively to BMEMPC members, respondents included,” part of the resolution read.
Dismissed
Meanwhile, the ombudsman dismissed the charges against the other respondents who were the Vice Mayor Vicente Rodriguez and members of the Sangguniang Bayan.
They were councilors Santiago Oliamot, Santiago Sevilla, Lyndon Hee Acusar, Wilfredo Manubag, Victor Elliot Lepiten III, Teodoro Pedroza, Ernesto Faciol and Leo Villacrucis.
The councilors said they found no inconsistency with the two MOAs in relation to the effective implementation of the agricultural and livelihood grant, adding that they had no power and supervision over the implementation of the program.
“Absent any showing that he (Rodriguez) proposed the resolution or voted for its passage, the charged violation of … lacks factual basis,” the ombudsman stated.
It further added that there is no sufficient showing that the SB’s action was necessary at the time the transaction was made to effect the disbursement of the fund to the cooperative.
However, the anti-graft office recommended for further fact-finding investigation against Martinez, Rodriguez, the elected and four appointive officials over the P500, 000 financial assistance to MBEMPC appropriated from the 20 percent Development Fund of the LGU.
The ombudsman narrated that before the agreement between DA and Bogo was done, the city had released to the cooperative the amount of P500,000 from its development fund that would generate livelihood opportunities. —/BRP (FREEMAN)