Gadon files raps vs. SC officials

Atty. Lorenzo "Larry" Gadon on Monday filed a complaint at the Department of Justice against some officials of the Supreme Court mentioned in the impeachment proceedings against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno for graft and violation of the procurement act.

According to a tweet from Carlo Mateo of Super Radyo dzBB, Gadon filed the complaint past 10 a.m.

WATCH: Atty. Larry Gadon, naghain sa @DOJPH ng reklamong katiwalian laban sa 5 opisyal ng Korte Suprema. | via Carlo Mateo pic.twitter.com/LcsFNNbcGB

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) March 12, 2018

Gadon, the man behind the impeachment complaint against Sereno,  filed two complaints—one against Chief Justice Staff Head Ma. Lourdes E.B. Oliveros, Court Attorney VI Michael B. Ocampo, and Information Technology Consultant Helen Perez-Macasaet, and one against Deputy Clerk of Court Anna-Li Papa Gombio and lawyer Jocelyn Fabian.

In one complaint, Gadon accused Oliveros, Ocampo and Macasaet of graft and violation of the procurement law over Macasaet's hiring as Information Technology Consultant.

Citing the House Committee on Justice's hearings on his impeachment complaint against Sereno, Gadon alleged that it was revealed that Oliveros and Ocampo recommended the hiring of Macasaet, which he alleged went through negotiated procurement instead of public bidding.

He also alleged that only the first two of the eight Contracts of Service passed through the Bids and Award Committee for Consultancy Services, as required by Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

The other six, he said, were renewed by Sereno herself upon Oliveros and Ocampo's recommendation.

"As a result," procurement rules "were not complied with," said Gadon.

The lawyer also alleged that Macasaet's compensation was P100,000 a month under the first contract and P250,000 a month in the succeeding contracts, "way beyond" the compensation ceiling set by a circular letter from the Department of Budget and Management.

"By reason of compensation alone, the Contracts of Service of Perez-Macaset, upon the recommendation and influence of Respondents Oliveros and Ocampo, are manifestly and grossly disadvantageous to the government," he said in the complaint.

These allegations, plus the alleged splitting of Macasaet's contracts, gave the consultant "unwarranted benefits, advantage and preference in the discharge of their administrative functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence."

Alleged delay of survivorship benefits

Meanwhile, Gadon accused Papa Gombio and Fabian of "causing undue injury and damage to surviving spouses of retired justices and judges through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence."

Again citing hearings of the House justice committee, he said it was revealed that the "unwarranted and unusual delay" in the survivorship benefits was caused by Papa-Gombio and Fabian, whom he said "did not want" to grant the benefits to the 29 applicants.

He charged Papa-Gombio and Fabian in their capacities as chairpersons of the Supreme Court Special Committee on Retirement and Civil Service Benefits and of the Legal Technical Working Group, respectively.

Gadon's impeachment complaint against the Chief Justice has cleared the House justice committee for probable cause. He has also sued Sereno for graft, and threatened to file similar raps against officials of the Judicial and Bar Council.

Sereno has earlier said she does not know Gadon's motives behind the impeachment bid. —KG, GMA News