Gwen Garcia faces indictment

THE OFFICE of the Ombudsman will file graft charges against former Cebu governor and now Cebu 3rd District Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia for alleged irregularities in the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) construction back in 2006.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said Garcia, 10 other provincial officials who sat in the bids and awards committee (BAC), as well as the contractor, face 11 counts of graft.

Morales faulted Garcia and the Cebu provincial government for not undertaking a public bidding before it awarded several contracts for the CICC worth a total of P425.6 million 10 years ago.

The Ombudsman pointed out that the contract with WT Construction Inc. was signed on June 22, 2006, and that Garcia approved the next day the disbursement voucher authorizing the full payment of P43.2 million to the contractor.

In her counter-affidavit, Garcia explained that the Commission on Audit had not found any irregularity in any of the procurements, contracts and disbursements concerning the construction of CICC so “the allegations are devoid of any basis.”

The Ombudsman, however,  insisted that the former Cebu governor and other officials “extended undue favors to WTCI when they awarded the contracts through alternative methods of procurement instead of public bidding.”

“All told, the BAC’s repeated recommendations to resort to limited source bidding and negotiated procurement instead of competitive public bidding, along with Garcia’s repeated approvals of these recommendations without proper verification, indicates gross inexcusable negligence,” Morales said.

Garcia is running for reelection and is supporting Vice President Jejomar Binay’s presidential candidacy.