Ombudsman wants dismissal of graft case vs. JV Ejercito reversed

The Office of the Ombudsman has asked the Sandiganbayan to reverse its dismissal of the graft case against Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito over a P2.1-million firearms purchase in 2008, saying he gave “unwarranted benefits advantage or preference” to the supplier which bagged the deal.

In a seven-page motion for reconsideration, the Office of the Ombudsman through the Assistant Special Prosecutors assigned to the case, said the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division “gravely abused its discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction” in granting the demurrer to evidence filed by the senator because it failed to consider several irregularities supposedly committed by San Juan City when it purchased firearms for the local police using calamity funds while Ejercito was mayor.

State prosecutors said it was already apparent that Ejercito favored the winning bidder, HK Tactical Defense System, Inc. (HKTDSI) even before the bidding for the firearms took place since the pre-qualification documents it submitted dated March 17, 2008, already indicated specific details for the purchase such as the brand name for the weapons, name of project and project reference number.

They said HKTDSI’s knowledge of the details about the deal was “highly improbable” since the Invitation to Apply for Eligibility and to Bid (IAEB) containing those pieces of information was published only a month later.

“If the bidding was regular, HKTDSI would have not known these details as of March 17, 2009 and they would not have been incorporated in the pre-qualification documents submitted by HKTDSI on even date, since they were made available only on April 14, 2008,” state prosecutors said.

They also argued that the release of details pertaining to the firearms before the purchase was made showed the bidding “was unmistakably rigged and the supporting paperwork, manufactured.”

State prosecutors said the similarity in the date indicated in the purchase request and purchase order also proves the documents were prepared to cover up a bidding intended to favor HKTDSI. 

“Unless the bidding process is manipulated, the Purchase Request and the Purchase Order will never bear the same date,” they said. 

In a 45-page ruling released last December, the anti-graft court said there was no proof that Ejercito caused undue injury to the government over the deal or gave unwarranted benefit to HKTDSI.

However, state prosecutors said the Sandiganbayan “gravely erred” in ruling that post-qualification can be done away in case of a lone bidder because it is stated in Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act. In San Juan City’s case, they said the local government never conducted any testing for the required capacities and operating conditions for the procured firearms.

They said the Bids and Awards Committee should have declared a failure of bidding due to the failure to conduct a post-qualification of HKTDSI.

State prosecutors said the signatures of Ejercito and his co-accused in the bidding documents prove they are liable over the allegedly questionable purchase of firearms.

Aside from Ejercito, also acquitted by the Sandiganbayan were: city administrator Ranulfo Dacalos, city legal officer Romualdo delos Santos, former City Documentation and Compliance Office special assistant Lorenza Ching, former city treasurer Rosalinda Marasigan and former city engineer Danilo Mercado. —ALG, GMA News