Ex-Palawan governor, other local officials charged in P1.53B graft case

Former Palawan Governor Mario Joel T. Reyes and other local government officers have been charged by the Office of the Ombudsman over the alleged misuse of some P1.53 billion in royalties from the Malampaya gas field eight years ago.

In the case filed before the Sandiganbayan, Reyes, along with some 41 other provincial officers, face a total of 159 criminal charges stemming from supposed procurement violations and falsification of documents.

Reyes faces 36 counts of violating Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act due to his supposed involvement in construction projects in 2008 with a total costs of P1.534 billion.

Aside from Reyes, former provincial engineer Charlie Factor is also facing 50 counts of graft, and 76 counts of falsification of public documents. He was also charged with seven counts of violating Presidential Decree No. 1759 or the contracts law.

Meanwhile, state auditor Edwin Iglesia and senior technical audit specialist Ronelo del Socorro were charged with one count each of graft, falsification, and the violation of contracts law.

According to the charge sheet filed before the Sandiganbayan, some 200 contracts the respondents entered into violated procurement laws.

The contracts involved the following companies: 

• Anilos Trading and Construction
• AR Lustre Jr. Construction
• BCT Trading and Construction
• D.C Sandil Construction & Realty Development Incorporated
• D.J Builders Corporation
• Goldrock Construction & Development Corporation
• ICON Trading & Construction
• L.B Leoncio Trading and Construction
• RC Tagala Construction
• Rodcel Construction
• Seven Digit Construction & Supplies
• ED Tabangay Construction

Some of these contracts involved the construction of school buildings, the San Vicente Airport Development Project, road projects, the Solar home system, and a day care center.

Owners of the construction companies were likewise charged by the Ombudsman.

Ombudsman prosecutors said the respondents did not comply with the processes as required by the Government Procurement Reform Act, including their failure to post invitation to apply for eligibility, to bid in the Government Procurement System, and on the website of the Palawan provincial government.

The respondents also failed to submit the bidding requirements and improperly evaluated the bid proposals by allowing only one set of key personnel to oversee the construction projects with overlapping timing of implementation.

Reyes and some of his co-accused also certified the completeness of documents supporting disbursement vouchers and approved payments even though the supporting documents were not complete, and issued Statement of Work Accomplished even though the project was not completely accomplished, the prosecutors said.

Factor, meanwhile, "feloniously" falsified accomplishment reports for the project, saying that the project was complete or almost complete when it was actually not, the Ombudsman said.

Factor also allegedly violated the contract law when he "willfully, unlawfully and criminally" gave consent to the project contractor "to violate the materials, quality and quantity of work provisions that are all material or substantial provisions" of the contracts with the Palawan provincial government.

This was made when he issued and signed Statements of Work Accomplished, which state that the project was complete or almost complete but was actually not, the prosecutors claimed.

On the other hand, the Ombudsman alleged Iglesia and del Socorro of falsifying the Commission on Audit inspection report of San Vicente Airport Development Project, saying that upon their inspection, the project was 58.36 percent complete when it was only 8.8 percent done.

The Ombudsman has recommended a P1.08 million bail for Reyes for his charges, while P3.6 million bail has been recommended for Factor.

Aside from this, Reyes is also facing another graft case before the Sandiganbayan for his alleged involvement in the fertilizer fund scam.

The former provincial governor is also tagged for being one of the masterminds behind the killing of broadcaster and environmentalist Gerry Ortega in 2011.

He and his brother, former Coron, Palawan Mayor Mario Reyes, are facing criminal charges in connection with Ortega’s slay.—DVM/KG, GMA News