Payment for backfill job in Balili cancelled

The Capitol withheld P6.88 million as payment to a construction firm hired to backfill the 24.7 hectare Balili property in barangay Tina-an, Naga City.

Cebu Provincial Legal Officer Orvi Ortega said he asked Provincial Accountant Marieto Ypil to cancel the disbursement voucher for Supreme ABF Construction and Construction Supply Co. Inc.

“The backfilling materials were supplied and delivered without prior authorization from the Provincial Board,” Ortega wrote Ypil.

He said the backfilling was illegal because the property was considered evidence in graft cases faced by former governor Gwendolyn Garcia and other Capitol officials in the Sandiganbayan.

A government survey showed that the Balili estate purchased for P98.9 million in 2008 was mostly underwater or classified as timberland.

“The contract between ABF Construction and Cebu province then represented by former governor Garcia, is without any force and effect and is not binding against the province,” Ortega said.

Ortega cited a Commission on Audit (COA) 2011 report which stated that budgets for projects in generic terms need a covering contract for every specific project and in turn needs approval from the PB.

In an interview yesterday, Davide said transactions should carry the approval of the PB.

“As far as my understanding of the Local Government Code, that’s what the law requires,” he told reporters.

Last November, PB Member Arleigh Sitoy and Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale inspected the Balili property and found that it was covered with limestone and filling materials.

The province spent P27 million for what Garcia called “restoration” work of the property.

The Ombudsman elevated to a formal investigation a complaint about the backfilling activities in the area.

The anti-graft office also issued a “cease and desist order” to prevent the Capitol from paying P6.9 million for a delivery of filling materials.

Garcia’s younger brother, former congressman Pablo John Garcia said the governor didn’t need to consult the PB for any operations done in the Balili property.

He said the governor has full authority to develop the province’s properties under the Local Government Code.

Garcia said the restored land will be used as a sanitary landfill for the dumping of coal ash from the nearby Korean Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) power plant.