Ombudsman indicts Puentevella, 2 others

BACOLOD CITY , Philippines   â€” The Office of the Ombudsman has endorsed to the Sandiganbayan the filing of graft charges against City Mayor Monico Puentevella and two other officials in connection with the alleged anomalous procurement of computers worth more than P25 million when he was a congressman.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said her office has found probable cause to indict Puentevella, Victoriano Tirol Jr., former DepEd-Western Visayas regional director, and Jessie Garcia, president of  Merry land Publishing, a Mandaluyong City-based supplier of computer packages, for violation of Republic Act  3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The 13-page Ombudsman resolution, a copy of which was obtained by the media last Oct. 16, was penned by assistant special prosecutor Anna Isabel Aurellano last Sept. 30, and signed by Morales last Oct. 2.

The Ombudsman said that, based on its investigation, all the elements of  Section 3 (e) of RA 3019 are present in this case. It said: 1) Puentevella and Tirol were public officers, and Garcia was in conspiracy with them;

2) The two officials gave unwarranted benefits and advantage to Merryland by awarding the contracts for the purchase of IT packages without the conduct of the public bidding, causing undue injury to the government by depriving it the opportunity to get the most advantageous offer, resulting in overpriced purchase of IT packages; and (3) the respondents acted with evident bad faith and manifest partiality when they violated the requirements of the law on public bidding and awarded the contracts to Merryland Publishing.

The Ombudsman said Tirol and Garcia attempted to justify the absence of public bidding by contending that Merryland was an exclusive distributor of  an educational software, which was part of the package, from a Singaporean firm. Butt each package has a hardware component that was not part of the exclusive distributorship agreement with Merryland, it said.

The case stemmed from Puentevella's release of money from his PDAF, from 2002 to 2007 for an information technology (IT) package for elementary and secondary schools in Bacolod, which were found later to be allegedly defective and unsuitable for school use.

In their complaint-affidavit in 2007, lawyers Allan Zamora (now deceased and was the City Legal Officer at the time of  filing of case), Joselito Bayatan, and Vicente Petierre accused Puentevella, Tirol, and Garcia of anomalies in the procurement and distribution of IT packages.

Zamora, Petierre and Bayatan had alternately served as city legal officers under then Mayor Evelio Leonardia, who is now a congressman of the lone district of Bacolod.

They said that Puentevella allocated funds from his PDAF from 2002 to 2007 for the purchase of  IT packages at P400,000 each. The DepEd-7, then headed by Tirol, procured the items from Merryland, without the conduct of a public bidding, they alleged.

Quoting a report of  the Bacolod City Legal Office's (CLO) Investigation Committee dated March 26, 2007, the complainants alleged that the IT packages are "overpriced, defective, and non-functional," and some of the school-beneficiaries have not  received the IT packages. Each computer package, which comes with accessories, cost P400,000. The whole package was reportedly overpriced by P14 million, according to CLO Investigation Committee Report in 2007.

Moreover, the COA then found that "some contents of the (IT) package, such as TV sets and computers could be locally procured through public bidding at much lower prices." The purchase of  the IT packages through direct contracting or exclusive distributorship was, thus, "contrary to RA 9184," the Ombudsman said, citing COA.

Puentevella, when asked for his reaction Wednesday, replied with a text message: "What else is new? I haven't received it (Ombudsman's resolution) but that's (the) same issue. (I) guess the enemy isn't sleeping... same people."

Puentevella assailed the investigation by the CLO Investigation Committee as being partial against him and that the complaint at the Ombudsman was politically motivated, since it was filed by Leonardia's former lawyer. Puentevella and Leonardia are known political rivals.

He however admitted that the project of giving IT packages to schools in Bacolod was undertaken by his office as congressman of  the city. He said his office was principally responsible for the sourcing of funds and identification of beneficiaries of the IT packages. The schools that received these had certified the items were in good condition, he added.

Sarah Esguerra, executive assistant of Puentevella, said all questions about the alleged 'computer anomaly' were already addressed, and Garcia had submitted his affidavit to the Ombudsman clarifying the issue. "The complainants should ask the DepEd because it was the agency that consummated the transaction," she said.

Garcia, for his part, said the IT package was one of the cheapest in the market with its price remaining the same since 2002. Presenting acknowledgment receipts, Garcia denied that some schools did not receive the packages.

He further rebutted the accusation of overpricing, saying the package covered the cost of computers and accessories, training, consultation and handling fees, delivery and intellectual property rights expenses and taxes, among others.

Tirol added that the allegation of overpricing was based on speculations and surmises, contending that the disbursements were examined by the COA, which did not issue a notice of disallowance or suspension against the procurement, thus no anomalies after all.

None of the respondents however disputed the accusation by the complainants on the absence of a public bidding. (FREEMAN)