2 ex-barangay execs in Baguio get jail time over bidding fraud

The Sandiganbayan has sentenced a former barangay captain and treasurer from Baguio city to six to eight years in jail over the fraudulent purchase of over P367,000 worth of tools and equipment.

This developed after the anti-graft court upheld the Baguio City Regional Trial Court's graft conviction of former Barangay Captain Constancio Danao and former Treasurer Romel Beltran of Barangay Camp 7.

The Sandiganbayan said that the prosecution was able to establish the following:

• Beltran and Danao awarded the contract without a pre-bid conference;
• the notice and invitation to bid were posted by Beltran instead of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Secretariat; and
• the BAC members were not aware of the subject project until the opening of bids

"At the outset, it must be emphasized that the uncontroverted evidence on record establishes the bad faith and the illegality in the accused's actions, and prove, among other things, that accused-appellants Danao and Beltran unduly arrogated upon themselves functions that they fully know to belong to Barangay Camp 7's BAC, and concluded the procurement and disbursement processes even absent complete authority to do so, and had a plain partiality to award the contract to J&J," the Sandiganbayan said.

It added that it is "evident" that Danao and Beltran are responsible for the procurement in question which was clearly beyond their authority.

"It is the BAC, rather than accused-appellant Beltran, that possessed the authority to post the Invitation to Bid at the PhilGEPS," the court said.

Although BAC chairperson Joel Buena and BAC member Juan Baldo eventually signed the Abstract of Bids and Award on December 29, 2015, the anti-graft court noted that the BAC contingent testified that they were misled into signing by accused-appellant Danao since Danao and Beltran already signed the  Disbursement Voucher and issued a check amounting to P369,249.11 for the procurement before December 29, 2015.

The Sandiganbayan also said Barangay Camp 7 did not receive the items purportedly purchased since the signature of prosecution witness Angelina Ramos was forged in the Inspection and Acceptance Report and List of Recipients.

Ramos has also filed administrative and criminal cases against Danao and Beltran before the Office of the Ombudsman in relation to the forgery of her signature on the list of recipients.

In his appeal, Danao said the prosecution failed to prove guilt in graft charge because he did not participate in the bidding process, and that he only approved the resolution recommending the approval of the company that bagged the contract and not the resolution awarding the contract.

Beltran, for his part, said his signature on the disbursement voucher and cheque should enjoy presumption of regularity.

Beltran also argued that since he is not a Sangguniang Barangay member, he cannot be a part of the BAC panel that awarded the contract.

The Sandiganbayan, however, junked these arguments.

"Indeed, the accused are not entitled to good faith given the set of facts in this case. It must be emphasized that the accused appellants did not testify to explain or justify their actions," it said.

"Hence, there is no evidence on which to base any conclusion that they acted in good faith, especially considering the irregularities pointed out by the prosecution witnesses," it added.

"Thus, the court affirms the findings and the conclusion of the court a quo that the prosecution was able to establish all the elements of a violation of Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) against the accused-appellants." —KBK, GMA Integrated News