Ombud suspends 18 Lapu officials

THE Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas found 18 Lapu-Lapu City department heads and officials guilty of anomalous purchases of over 470 units of personal computers in 2005.

The officials, who served during the time of Arturo Radaza as mayor, were meted a penalty of suspension for six months without pay.

The case stemmed from an expose by businessman Efrain Pelaez Jr. in 2005 that the city bought overpriced computers, all worth P23.5 million at P50,000 each.

The Ombudsman found that the computers “were different from or of lower quality than what were specified in the purchase order.”

The Ombudsman said the Bids and Awards Committee of which the 18 officials were members, unduly favored Kein Enterprises, from which the computers were bought.

The suspended officials include Victoria Andoy, City Budget Officer; Elena Pacaldo, City Treasurer; Rogelio Veloso, Head of Technical Working Group; Buenaventura Igot, City Accountant; Vincent Joseph Lim, City Legal Officer.

In a statement, Mayor Paz Radaza said, “My legal advisers cautioned me that the respondents, as part of due process, have the right to file a motion for reconsideration. This might constrain me though from immediately implementing the directive of the Ombudsman.”

Tagaan and Lim already died, Pacaldo and Solis have retired and Igot resigned. Reporter Jucell Marie P. Cuyos