Ombudsman junks Albay solon’s bid to quash indictment

THE OFFICE of the Ombudsman threw out Friday the motion for consideration filed by Albay Rep. Reno Lim, after he and eight others were earlier indicted for the alleged anomalous use of P27 million in his pork barrel allocation in 2008.

The Ombudsman, in a statement, said it set aside Lim’s motion in which he claimed he was not responsible for the disbursement of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), the official name of pork barrel.

It also dismissed his argument that he only “relied in good faith that it will be used for the purpose it was intended.”

The amount was part of Lim’s P30 million PDAF allotment which he sent to Kaagapay Magpakailanman Foundation Inc. (KMFI) for a supposed livelihood program for his constituents. The fund was meant to purchase 8,000 sets of livelihood instructional materials and technology kits.

 Conspired with TRC

But the former congressman allegedly conspired with officials of the now defunct Technology Resource Center (TRC) to implement the project without the required public bidding.

“The evidence… indubitably establish that [Lim] connived with the TRC officials in the repeated conversion of his… PDAF,” the Ombudsman said.

The antigraft court said its decision was supported by the notices of disallowance issued by the Commission on Audit (COA) in October last year.

Besides Lim, also charged with four counts of graft and four counts of malversation were sacked TRC officials Antonio Ortiz, Dennis Cunanan, Maria Rosalinda Lacsamana, Marivic Jover and Consuelo Lilian Espiritu; KMFI representatives Carlos Soriano and France Mercado; and Carmelita Barredo of C.C. Barredo Publishing House.

The Ombudsman said the sworn statements of witnesses, disbursement vouchers, checks, written requests, the memorandum of agreement (MOA) with KMFI, liquidation reports, confirmation letters and other documentary evidence were enough to prove their liability.

 No public bidding

Citing the COA audit report, it said Lim asked the Department of Budget and Management to release P30 million in his PDAF allotment in August and November 2007 to the TRC as the conduit government agency and KMFI as project implementor.

Lim then signed an agreement assigning the project to KMFI as his chosen foundation without conducting a public bidding.

“[The] project was considered ‘fictitious or ghost project’ as no deliveries of livelihood kits were made,” the Ombudsman said. “Ombudsman investigators [discovered] that not one among the constituents of said legislative district received the livelihood technology kits.”

It said KMFI was not a competent foundation because it “had no legitimate business address” and was only registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2006.