Former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes
Former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes and 41 others have been charged in the Sandiganbayan in connection with anomalies involving 209 contracts funded by P1.53 billion in royalties from the Malampaya gas field off the province in 2008 and 2009.
The Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon filed 159 criminal charges in connection with procurement violations by the provincial government led by Reyes.
State prosecutors also claimed that the provincial engineering office had faked accomplishment and inspection reports, and allowed the violation of the terms for 39 infrastructure contracts worth P461.37 million.
These projects from across the province—which include roadworks, schools, day care centers and even an airport development project in San Vicente town—were unfinished at the time when these were certified as completed in 2008 and 2009.
Add to these the contracts with disadvantageous provisions, a total of 54 projects were singled out as riddled with irregularities.
Ortega murder
The exposé on these irregularities supposedly led to the January 2011 slay of environmentalist broadcaster Gerry Ortega, for whose murder Reyes is currently jailed pending trial.
Eleven of the contracts were for roadworks and school buildings in Coron town, where Reyes’ brother and murder case codefendant, Mario, was a former mayor.
Palawan province under Reyes got ahold of the Malampaya money following the issuance of Executive Order No. 683 by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2007, an interim agreement that granted Palawan half its claim of the
40-percent share of the government from the Malampaya proceeds pending resolution of a legal dispute in the Supreme Court.
Between 2005 and 2010, as part of the interim agreement, the national government released a total of P2.9 billion to the provincial government.
Procurement violations
Prosecutors said Reyes conspired with seven other officials to award the 209 contracts to 11 construction firms in 2008, despite violation of requirements under the Government Procurement Reform Act.
The violations included the failure to post the bid invitation online at the Government Electronic Procurement System and the province’s website, and the nonsubmission of bidding documents.
Likewise, the infrastructure contracts were found not to contain a clause for the payment of liquidated damages in case of project delay.
There was also improper evaluation of bid proposals.
BCT Trading’s 80 contracts
Half the value of the projects went to Puerto Princesa City-based BCT Trading and Construction, whose 80 contracts were worth P722.75 million. Another large supplier is R.C. Tagala Construction of Narra town, which won 14 contracts worth P301.46 million.
Because of these irregularities, Reyes was charged with 14 counts of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for causing undue injury to the government and with 22 counts of violating the same law for entering into disadvantageous contracts.
Also accused of procurement violations were provincial administrator Romeo Seratubias, provincial general services officer Ferdinand Dilig, provincial budget officer Luis Marcaida II, provincial engineer Charlie Factor, provincial treasurer Teofilo Palanca Jr., provincial planning and development coordinator Samuel Madamba II, and Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Rolando Bonoan Jr.
Reyes was also accused, along with provincial accountant Orlando Colobong and provincial legal officer Elena Melchor Vergara-Rodriguez, of approving the payments to three contractors despite incomplete supporting documents.
Provincial engineer
It was actually provincial engineer Factor, not Reyes, who faces the most charges.
Reyes was not involved in most of the 159 charges, which are related to the provincial engineering office’s alleged offenses regarding 39 individual contracts.
Factor was charged with 50 counts of violating Section 3(e) of the graft law, 76 counts of falsification and seven counts of violating Section 2 of Presidential Decree No. 1759, which penalizes violations of material provisions in government contracts. His bail for these 133 cases was placed at P3.604 million.
His alleged cohort, quality control division chief Alfredo Padua, faces 39 counts of graft, 76 counts of falsification and seven counts of violating PD 1759—a total of 122 criminal cases.
Engineer Renato Abrina and assistant provincial engineer Manuel Cabiguen likewise face more charges than Reyes.
Abrina is accused of 38 counts of graft, 38 of falsification and seven of violating PD 1759, and Cabiguen 36 counts of graft, 35 counts of falsification and seven counts of violating PD 1759.
Factor, Padua, Abrina and Cabuigen, as well as assistant provincial engineer Federico Rubio Jr. and 10 resident engineers were accused of causing the government a total of P169.71 million in damages for faking the accomplishment reports to justify the payment for 39 unfinished projects valued at P461.37 million.
Egregious discrepancies
Egregious discrepancies allegedly attended seven of these projects, which were barely half-completed.
A supposedly 100-percent completed road widening project in Coron, for one, turned out to be 13.81-percent finished only.
At the same time, state auditor Edwin Iglesia and senior technical audit specialist Ronelo del Socorro of the Commission on Audit (COA) regional office were slapped with one count each of graft, falsification and violation of PD 1759.
Their charges pertained to the allegedly fabricated COA inspection report for the San Vicente Airport Development Project dated Sept. 11, 2009.
The report stated that the project was 58.36-percent complete during ocular inspection, when it was only 8.8-percent finished.
Sixteen individuals—all contractors—were also charged.
Sought for comment, Reyes’ counsel Ferdinand Topacio said he would have to read the charges first. Ortega’s daughter Michaella did not respond to requests for comment. —WITH INQUIRER RESEARCH