Ex-Davao Del Sur governor convicted of graft for anomalous purchase of vehicles

Former Davao del Sur governor Benjamin Bautista Jr. and five former officials of the province were sentenced to maximum of 32 years of imprisonment after they were found guilty of four counts of graft in connection with the alleged anomalous purchase of five service vehicles in 2003.

In a 42-page resolution promulgated on February 24, 2016, the Sandiganbayan First Division found Bautista “guilty beyond reasonable doubt” of graft for approving the purchases of five service vehicles totaling P5.6 million without holding public bidding.

Also convicted along with Bautista were former provincial accountant Richard Martel, general services officer Allan Putong, treasurer Abel Guiñares, budget officer Victoria Mier, and Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Edgar Gan, who were members of the provincial Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) at the time.

They were sentenced to a minimum of six years and one month to a maximum of eight years of imprisonment for each count of the offense.

They were also ordered perpetually disqualified from holding public office.

Court informants told reporters that Bautista was running as vice mayor in one of the municipalities of the province in the upcoming elections under the administration’s Liberal Party (LP).

The First Division said the prosecution, through its evidence and witnesses, was able to establish that Bautista conspired with the five other accused to approve the contracts for the purchase of the vehicles through direct procurement instead of public bidding.

“The evidence clearly point out that the five vehicles were purchased by the Province of Davao without any public bidding as Bautista and the Bids and Awards Committee chose the suppliers through direct purchase route,” the resolution penned by First Division member Associate Justice Rafael Lagos said.

Associate Justices Efren Dela Cruz and Rodolfo Ponferrada concurred in the ruling.

The court said the prosecution’s witnesses also corroborated each other’s testimony that the procurement of the vehicles was not even included in the annual procurement program of the provincial government, which was a violation of the government procurement rules.

The purchased vehicles included two Toyota Hilux 4x4 pickups worth P2.5 million, a Mitsubishi L300 Exceed van worth P878,919 and two Ford Ranger XLT 4x4 pickups worth P2.2 million.

The court dismissed the accused’s argument that they resorted to direct procurement from Toyota and Ford as the two companies were the sole distributors of foreign brands specified in the purchase requests (PRs) signed by Bautista.

“There is nothing in the Toyota or Ford certification that can be the basis for a valid claim that they were exclusive dealers or sole distributors of the foreign brands of the vehicles involved in these cases,” the court said.

The court also gave no weight to Bautista’s defense that it was just “ministerial” for him as the governor of the province to sign the PRs and that the determination of the brands was left to the provincial BAC.

Other brands available

It noted that Bautista was well aware that other brands of vans and pick-ups of similar kinds were available in the market as the provincial government had earlier purchased seven vans and pick-ups of other brands such as from Isuzu.

“There is, therefore, some indication that Bautista himself was partial to the Toyota, Ford and Mitsubishi brands, despite the facts that other brands were available in Davao,” the ruling read.

The court said that because of Bautista and his co-accused’s preference for specific brands, the government was deprived of the opportunity to purchase the cheaper alternatives.

“The fact remains that the accused already knew of the existence of other brands of pick-ups and van and yet, they still purchased directly only from Toyota, Ford and Mitsubishi without at least finding out the pricing of suitable substitutes,” the court said.

Lastly, the First Division pointed out that there was no reason for the accused to resort to direct purchase as there was no state of emergency or calamity to justify it.

“Thus, it shows some haste in the procurement which ultimately benefitted the dealers of the brands. No records were presented to show the urgency for each purchase to justify the procurement of these vehicles,” the ruling read.

Based on the court’s records the five vehicles were purchased in a span of just six months or from January to July 2003. —JST, GMA News