Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Mendoza asks court to dismiss graft case

Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza has asked the Sandiganbayan First Division to dismiss the graft case recently filed against her which stemmed from the alleged anomalous procurement of diesel fuel worth P2.4 million from her mother’s gasoline station.

In a 63-page “motion for judicial determination of probable,” Mendoza, through her lawyers, maintained that the Office of the Ombudsman erred in filing a graft case against her as it supposedly failed to establish the key elements of the crime such as “evident bad faith” and the “giving of unwarranted benefit or undue preference to a party.”

“If the case of accused Gov. Mendoza is viewed in light of the instant Motion and its supporting evidence, it will clearly show that there is no probable cause to issue the warrant of arrest and there is even basis to dismiss altogether the charges against her,” the motion read.

In a case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman last week, Mendoza was charged with three counts of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Based on the Ombudsman’s investigation, Mendoza, in 2010, approved the release of P2.4 million from the provincial funds to pay for 49,526.72 liters of fuel used for one road grader and four dump trucks supposedly utilized during the two-day road rehabilitation projects in the province.

The Ombudsman said no public bidding was held for the purchase of the fuel. Instead, Mendoza allegedly directly contracted the Taliño Shell Station, a fuel station owned by her mother.

In her motion, however, Mendoza maintained that the fact that the awarding of the contract for the fuel purchase has not undergone a public bidding does not prove that she has given unwarranted benefit and undue preference to Taliño Shell Station.

“The resort to direct contracting as an alternative mode of procurement for fuel purchases was upon the recommendation of the province’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), and not upon the direction of accused Gov. Mendoza,” the motion read.

Mendoza said she “relied and believed in good faith in the propriety” of the BAC’s decision to purchase the fuel through direct contracting especially since it has been the method of procurement of the province even before she assumed office in 2010.

Mendoza further pointed out that the Commission on Audit (COA) has never issued any notice of disallowance regarding the provincial government’s previous direct contracting deals as well as on the contract for the fuel purchase which is the subject of her graft case.

“Moreover, the COA never called the Province’s attention that it was illegal, irregular or inefficient nor did the COA ever disallow any of their purchases made through direct contracting under RA 9184 (Government Procurement Act),” the motion read.

“Moreover, with particular reference to the subject [fuel] purchases, these went through the regular COA audit and the purchases were not disallowed,” it added.

'No participation'

Mendoza also maintained that she had no participation in the selection of the Taliño Shell Station as the supplier of the fuel, saying it was decided upon by the BAC based on valid grounds, among them was that because “it offered the lowest price; it was the only gas station in the area and closest to the road projects; and it agreed to supply on credit.”

“Contrary to the findings of the Ombudsman, accused Gov. Mendoza did not handpicked or select the Taliño gas station as the province’s supplier for the subject purchases because these were decided upon by the BAC,” the motion read.

Mendoza also maintained that she approved the purchase requests, purchase orders and disbursement vouchers that paved way for the release of the payment to the Taliño Shell Station as “there were no red flags as to the method of procurement and the supporting documents such as the program of works, canvasses and quotations were complete and in order.”

Aside from the case’s dismissal, Mendoza also asked the court to temporarily suspend any proceedings and to defer the issuance of arrest warrant against her until her motion is resolved.

Just recently, Mendoza was also under hot water due to the recent violent dispersal of farmers and Lumads in Kidapawan City who were holding a protest rally to demand agricultural assistance to families affected by the El Niño phenomenon.

The incident left two farmers and a civilian killed and several others injured. — RSJ, GMA News