Former Palawan governor Mario Joel Reyes (PHOTO FROM PNP)
MANILA — Former Palawan Governor Mario Joel Reyes has asked the Sandiganbayan to throw out his cases over the misuse of P1.53 billion in royalties from the Malampaya gas field in 2008 and 2009.
In a 22-page motion, Reyes cited the “complete lack of basis to sustain a prima facie case” in seeking the dismissal of the 36 graft charges filed by the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon against him.
Through the motion, he pointed to his subordinates as the ones accountable for alleged procurement irregularities after claiming the projects were completed, and playing down the supposed omissions in the awarded contracts.
The motion was in effect an appeal on the Second Division’s March 17 minute resolution finding probable cause to issue an arrest warrant against the defendants. (Reyes is currently detained in Puerto Princesa City pending trial for the January 2011 murder of broadcaster Gerardo Ortega, who helped expose the alleged anomalies.)
Reyes was charged with 14 counts of violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for causing undue injury to the government and giving unwarranted benefits to private parties.
This he allegedly did by awarding 209 infrastructure contracts to 11 construction firms despite the firms’ noncompliance with the requirements of the Government Procurement Reform Act, and by approving the payment to three contractors despite the lack of supporting documents.
The former governor, however, claimed the contractors completed the projects and could not have received any unwarranted favor. “There is no showing that the projects were wanting or deficient in any way,” the motion stated.
Reyes denied being part of the alleged conspiracy because he was not a member of the bids and awards committee. He also disowned the allegedly irregular documents.
He said his co-defendant, provincial planning and development coordinator Samuel Madamba II, was the one who actually approved the BAC resolutions “supposedly on behalf of the Accused [Reyes].” As for the unsupported disbursement vouchers, he pointed to either Madamba or provincial legal officer Elena Melchor Vergara-Rodriguez as the signatories.
Reyes said there was no basis for the Ombudsman to fault him for the alleged shortcomings of his subordinates.
“Accused cannot be expected to look into the details of each and every transaction of the projects and disbursement of the Malampaya funds,” the motion read. “Given the volume of paperwork that goes thorough [sic] the Office of the Governor… Accused had the right to rely in good faith on his subordinates.”
Reyes was also slapped with 22 counts of violating Section 3(g) of the graft law for signing on to allegedly disadvantageous contracts that do not provide for the payment of liquidated damages in case of project delays.
On this point, he downplayed the need for an express provision because any delays would have been covered by suspension and resumption orders. He added that the law and jurisprudence have allowed the collection of liquidated damages despite the lack of the provision.
He also explained that the standard contracts construed the implementing rules and regulations of the procurement law as part of the agreement. Annex E of the said IRR already provided for the collection of damages, he pointed out.
“There is no showing that liquidated damages were not collected as a result of the failure to include such provision in the contracts,” Reyes argued, adding that prosecutors even failed to show any delays in the projects.
Since “there exists no probable cause to form a sufficient belief as to the guilt of Accused,” Reyes asked the court not to subject him to trial anymore.
The Reyes government got hold of the Malampaya money following then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s issuance of Executive Order No. 683 in 2007, an interim agreement that granted Palawan half its claim of the 40-percent share of proceeds amid a dispute with the national government.
Reyes was not the official charged with most cases; it was provincial engineer Charlie Factor whose March 18 death extinguished criminal liability for 133 out of the total 159 charges.
Although Reyes was not charged in the other cases, various subordinates were accused of fabricating the accomplishment reports for 39 unfinished projects to justify the payment of P461.37 million. SFM/rga