Ex-PCGG execs face graft over ‘anomalous’ compromise agreement

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales has ordered the filing of graft charges against six former ranking officials of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) over the alleged anomalous agreement the commission entered into in 1987.

In a resolution recently signed by Morales, former PCGG commissioners Magtanggol Gunigundo, Reynaldo Guiao, Hermilo Rosal, Julieta Bertuben and Herminio Mendoza, as well as former PCGG director Mauro Estrada, were ordered charged with violation of Section 3(g) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Section 3(g) of RA 3019 prohibits the act of entering, on behalf of the government, into any contract or transaction “manifestly and grossly disadvantageous" to the government, "whether or not the public officer profited or will profit thereby.”

Morales said based on records obtained by her office, the respondents entered into a compromise agreement with the heirs of former Muntinlupa mayor Maximino Argana, who in July 1987, was slapped by the PCGG with a forfeiture case over his alleged ill-gotten properties located in Famy and Pangil towns in Laguna, with a total land area of 481.78 hectares.

The Ombudsman said based on the compromise settlement, the government would get 361.92 hectares, representing 75 percent of the property in dispute, while Argana’s heirs agreed to retain the remaining 199.86 hectares or 25 percent of the property.

The Ombudsman, however said that upon investigation, it was revealed that the agreement was fraudulent and “tainted with misrepresentation” as the parties failed to disclose the value of the land parted to both camps.

The Ombudsman said the property ceded to the government was valued at only around P3.6 million based on the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program valuation of P10,000 per hectare, while the market value of the property retained by the Argana heirs, located in an urban area, was valued at P2.4 billion based on the market valuation of P2,000 per square meter.

Morales said the agreement was a "virtual sell-out" that had caused great disadvantage to the government.

“Due to the pronounced inequity in the distribution of properties between the government and the heirs under the agreement, the government stood to suffer substantial loss, hence, the contract was grossly and manifestly disadvantageous to the government,” the Ombudsman resolution read.

Meanwhile, the charges against Cecilio Estoesta and Zenaida Hernandez-Perez of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) were dismissed for lack of probable cause.

In a ruling issued in 2000, the Sandiganbayan Third Division granted the motion filed by the OSG and the new set of PCGG officials asking that the compromise agreement be rescinded. —KBK, GMA News