6 ex-DBM execs charged with graft over rubber boat purchase

The Office of the Ombudsman has filed a graft case against six former officials of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) over the purchase of supposedly substandard inflatable rubber boats for the Philippine Navy amounting to P3.465 million.

In a case filed before the Sandiganbayan on May 2, the Ombudsman, through its Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), charged former DBM undersecretary Evelyn Guerrero and former DBM director IV Lourdes Santiago with one count of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Also charged of the same offense were former DBM procurement management officers Julieta Lozano and Mervin Ian Tanquintic, former administrative assistant Alvin John Perater, and former technical working group ad hoc member Lt. Malone Agudelo.

A private individual, Anthony Hernandez, managing director of JOAVI Philippines Corporation, was also charged.

Based on the information of the case, Guerrero and Santiago, chairperson and member, respectively, of the Inter-Agency Bids and Awards Committee (IABAC), allegedly conspired with the other respondents who were members of the technical working group (TWG) in awarding to JOAVI the P3.465-million contract for the purchase of seven inflatable rubber boats in August 2010.

The OSP said the public respondents conspired in the preparation and signing of the Technical Evaluation Report and Post-Evaluation Report to make it appear that the rubber boats offered by JOAVI during the bidding complied with the technical specifications prescribed by the DBM “when in fact, it has not.”

The OSP said that contrary to the DBM specifications, the rubber boats offered by JOAVI were not equipped with intercommunication or inflation valves, over-pressure valves and roll-up floor.

The OSP further said that the rubber boats were sports model and not military model

A P30,000 bail bond has been recommended for each respondent in exchange for their provisional liberty.

Section 3(e) of RA 3019 prohibits a public official from causing any undue injury to any party, including the Government, or giving any private party unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial function. —Elizabeth Marcelo/KBK, GMA News