Sulu Gov. Loong faces graft raps before Sandiganbayan

PHOTO FROM HTTP://WWW.SULU.GOV.PH

MANILA, Philippines – Acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro ordered the filing of a criminal case before the Sandiganbayan against former Sulu Governor Benjamin Loong and a private individual for irregularities involving certain livelihood and infrastructure projects in 2007.

In a 25-page Resolution, Casimiro alleged that Loong and Kanoh Hajib, chairman of the Bawisan Multi-Purpose Cooperative, BJ Construction and Material Supply, Inc. and BJ Coco Oil Mill, Inc violated Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Records reveal that in 2006, the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Unit IX and the Provincial Government of Sulu agreed to undertake the construction of an ice plant with cold storage and a cassava production/post-harvest facility, with project cost amounting to P8.2M and P4.2M, respectively.

Under a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), the ice plant and the cassava production facility are to be managed by the said cooperative. However, it turned out that the cooperative was non-existent and that it was BJ Coco Oil Mill, of which Loong was President and a member of the Board of Directors, which manages the two facilities. The ice plant and cassava production facility were also constructed inside the BJ Coco Oil Mill, which is owned and registered under the name of Loong.

“It is clearly made known that Benjamin Loong, through evident bad faith, caused undue injury to the Provincial Government of Sulu when he conferred to BJ Coco Oil Mill, Inc. instead of the cooperative the management of the two facilities,” the resolution stated.

In an affidavit, Jesus Cabelin, Sulu Provincial Treasurer, stated that Loong “had ordered and instructed him on different occasions to cause the disbursement of cash advance of funds intended for the ice plant with cold storage with 5 tons capacity and the cassava production facility and of funds for the construction in Maimbung, Sulu of several cold storage facilities.”

Investigation showed that there were no documents to prove that the cash advances in the total amount of more than P41.3M were actually deposited in the account of the Muncipality of Maimbung, Sulu.

The resolution said that the disbursement of public funds violated Section 174 (g) Volume 1 of the Government Accounting and Auditing Manual (GAAM) which reads: “No cash advance shall be granted on account of infrastructure or other undertakings on a project basis.”

Casimiro also ordered further fact-finding investigation to determine the liability of other personalities involved in the projects as well as other laws that may have been violated by the respondents.