Ex-Muntinlupa mayor faces graft over P47.2-M infrastructure deals

The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the filing of graft charges against former Muntinlupa City mayor Aldrin San Pedro and 12 others in connection with the alleged anomalous awarding of contracts for the construction of health and day care centers in 2009 amounting P47.2 million.

 

In a 36-page resolution recently signed by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, San Pedro and 12 others were ordered charged with violation of Section 3 (e) of Republict Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for the awarding of 14 projects to various private contractors in March 2009 without holding a public bidding, which is mandated under Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

 

Section 3 (e) of RA 3019 prohibits a public official, in the discharge of his official functions, from inflicting any undue injury or giving unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference to any person or entity.

 

“The fact that in all the aforementioned fourteen infrastructure projects, respondents repeatedly failed to follow the requirements of RA No. 9184 as well as its implementing rules and regulations on public bidding, establishes that unwanted benefit, advantage or preference was given to the declared winning bidders,” the Ombudsman resolution read.

 

Also ordered charged with the same offense were former city administrator and chairman of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Roberto Bunyi, former city legal officer and BAC vice chairman Michael Racelis, former city engineer Vicente Navarro, former city budget officer Avelino Orellana, former Procurement Office head Sonia Laureta and former BAC members Peter Salonga and Rodolfo Oliquindo.

 

Also ordered charged were private respondents Arturo Melendrez, general manager of AP Melendez Construction Inc.; Dennis Labao, general manager of VF Labao Construction; Loida Dureza, general manager of ASRO Trading and Construction; Tirso De Jesus, general manager of PDJ Integrated Construction and Juvanni Bernard Espejo, general manager of JBA Espejo Construction Corp.

 

Meanwhile, the complaint against 41 other respondents was dismissed for "insufficiency of evidence."

 

Tthe Ombudsman resolution said San Pedro and the 12 other respondents conspired in making it apppear that biddings were conducted to show that the awarding of the contracts complied with procurement rules, when in fact, not a single bidding ever took place.

 

The contracts were for the supposed construction of eight units of one-storey day care centers, four units of two-storey day care centers, a police station and a two-storey health center.

 

“Respondent A.L. San Pedro awarded the contracts to the declared winning bidders despite deficienies in the submitted bidding documents,” the Ombudsman said.

 

The Ombudsman said the contracts were also awarded to the private respondents even before their certificate of eligibility to participate in a supposed bidding was issued by the BAC.

 

The Ombudsman also noted that the Abstracts of Bids did not also bear the signatures of the members of BAC and the Technical Working Group.

 

“If indeed public bidding was conducted, the Abstracts of Bids should have borne the signatures of the members of TWG in addition to the signatures of the BAC members appearing thereon,” the Ombudsman said.

 

“The Office thus finds unrefuted the claim of the complainant that the infrastructure projects were awarded without public bidding,” it added.

 

Earlier this month, the Ombudsman filed a graft case against San Pedro over the alleged anomalous purchase of 40,000 pieces of trolley bags in 2008 amounting P22 million, also allegedly without holding a public bidding.

 

The trolley bags were supposedly distributed to the elementary students in the city’s public schools. —ALG, GMA News