Ex-Capiz governor faces raps over questioned purchase of vehicles

The Office of the Ombudsman has found probable cause to file a criminal complaint against the former governor of Capiz in connection with the alleged anomalous procurement of government vehicles in 2007.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales approved the filing of graft against former Governor Vicente Bermejo for approving the purchase of four vehicles—three Mitsubishi Parejo wagons and one Isuzu Manlift truck—for the total amount of P1.95 million through public auction.

Based on documents from the Commission on Audit, the check payment for the vehicles mas made payable to Bermejo "as reimbursement."

The Ombudsman said Bermejo's name on the check already proves that the purchase was against government procurement rules.

“The fact that the check intended for the payment of the vehicles is issued in respondent’s name would further show the irregularity in the purchase. There is nothing in the records to justify why the check was not made directly to the seller," the Ombudsman said in its resolution.

Two of the vehicles, meanwhile, were already registered under the Roxas City government during the time of the purchase, according to records from the Land Transportation Office.

The Ombudsman futher said there was no public bidding for the purchase of the vehicles and therefore a violation of Republic Act No. 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

Public auction is not one of the modes of procurement mandated under RA 9184.

"As verified with the Procurement Service-(Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System), there was no invitation to bid posted at the PhilGEPS website for the procurement of the four vehicles by the province of Capiz for 2007,” the Ombudsman said.

The anti-graft body said investigators also found that Bermejo was the highest bidder in the public auction held by the Phil-Pan Subic Ventures, Inc.

“Bermejo as the approving authority of the purchases being the head of the procuring entity, acted with evident bad faith in purchasing the vehicles without a public bidding but through a public auction," Morales said.

"Respondent ought to know the basic provisions of R.A. No. 9184 which require procurement to undergo either competitive bidding or any of the alternative modes and to implement the law to the letter. Yet, respondent utterly disregarded these established rules,” she added. —NB, GMA News