The Office of the Ombudsman. (File photo by NINO JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman has cleared several officials of the Department of Education (DepEd) Taguig district office from graft charges filed against them in connection with a procurement issue.
The complaint against the following individuals was dismissed for lack of probable cause by Overall Deputy Ombudsman Warren Rex Liong in March 2021:
• Dr. Romulo Rocena, former Schools Division Superintendent
• Dr. Carleen S. Sedilla, former Assistant Schools Division Superintendent
• Dr. George P. Tizon – Chief Supervisor
• Atty. Analiza Esperanza – Legal Officer
• Norman Quinn Arezza – Supervisor
• Kitche Altamia – Administrative Officer V
• Rebeca Balaquit – Budget Officer
• Rhea Ison – Accountant
• Jesus Bautista
The resolution said that the eight officers and the private respondent were accused of violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, for alleged irregularities in the bidding and procurement of food and accommodation for a three-day DepEd seminar in August 2018.
“Wherefore, the criminal complaint against respondents is dismissed for lack of probable cause,” the resolution read.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, the accused claimed that the case is merely a trumped-up charge filed by the complainants to get even.
According to the group, complainants Marcial Sison, Nestor Ramos, Bernadeth Bautista, Ma. Lenny Manaoat were DepEd Taguig supervisors who were involved in the alleged illegal collection of fifty centavos per student of every school under the district since 2017.
A separate complaint was filed against Sison for allegedly ordering schools to remit the fifty centavo charge, which supposedly would be used to renovate his office and for personal supplies.
“The case started when the Supervisor complainants’ request to dismiss their cases of graft and corruption due to their illegal collection of fifty centavos (0.50) per student to every school under their district since 2017 during the tenure of then Dr. Benjamin Samson, the former Schools Division Superintendent,” the respondents said in the statement.
“Taguig principals filled barrages of complaints of graft and corruption against the supervisors who find way to get back to the officials that denied their request to squash the cases against them. To get even against the officials who refused to tolerate their illegal acts, they hired a law firm using the money they collected from the poor students and their families,” they claimed.
The accused also said that they will file a counter case — P14 million civil lawsuit — to seek moral and exemplary damages for the charges now dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman.
“If successful in their case, the complainants will donate all the proceeds to all of the poor students of Taguig and different schools in Metro Manila,” they claimed.
abc