Convicted ex-Batangas university president charged with graft anew

A former Batangas State University (BSU) president who was earlier convicted for graft has been charged anew by the Office of the Ombudsman over the allegedly anomalous purchase of a portion of land for the university's engineering studies center.

Charged with one count each of violation of Section 3(e) and 3(g) of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act was former BSU president Ernesto de Chavez.

In the charge sheets filed before the Sandiganbayan, the Ombudsman alleged that De Chavez, from February 2002 to April 2003, "willfully, unlawfully and criminally" endorsed, selected and caused the purchase of a 140,222-square meter land in Lobo, Batangas worth P44.87 million where the BSU's proposed National Center for Earth, Energy and Transport Engineering Studies would be built.

The purchase, however, was made "despite the absence of a canvass, an appraised valuation from reliable entities, and a comparative study in documents to support the transaction and the disbursement of public funds," the Ombudsman said, thus giving "unwarranted benefits, advantage and preference" to the seller.

The Ombudsman added that the transaction was "manifestly or gross disadvantageous" to the government, as the property has an appraised value of only P100 per square meter according to Commission on Audit valuation, instead of P320 per square meter as agreed upon with the seller, resulting in an overprice of more than P26 million.

It also incurred the payment of the transfer tax worth P230,646 that the seller should have shouldered.

Section 3(e) of RA 3019 prohibits public officials from “causing any undue injury to any party, including the Government, or giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence.”

Meanwhile, Section 3(g) states that public officials are not allowed to "[enter], on behalf of the Government, into any contract or transaction manifestly and grossly disadvantageous to the same, whether or not the public officer profited or will profit thereby."

In March 2016, the Sandiganbayan convicted De Chavez of graft for anomalously collecting internet fees from students.

He, however, was acquitted for estafa over the same incident for insufficiency of evidence.

De Chavez was sentenced to six to 10 years of imprisonment and was ordered perpetually disqualified from holding public office.

BSU vice president for academic affairs Rolando Lontok Jr. is also facing the same charges. However, his cases were ordered indefinitely archived as he was at large at that time.

Last April, both former officials surrendered to Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and were turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation.

In 2012, De Chavez and Lontok were also sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiring to have students rent graduation caps and gowns from a shop owned by one of them. —ALG, GMA News