TRC execs dismissed anew over Cagases’ case

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales lashed three officials of the now-defunct Technology Resource Center (TRC) over their alleged complicity in the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam.

The Ombudsman dismissed chief accountant Marivic Jover, budget officer Consuelo Lilian Espiritu and sales and promotion officer Belina Concepcion, stripped them of retirement benefits and banned them from public office.

But since the TRC was abolished in 2015, Morales converted the dismissal to a fine equivalent to their annual salary while still in government service.

The three were found guilty of grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and prejudicial conduct in connection with the misuse of the pork barrel funds of former Davao del Sur Rep. Douglas Cagas (now the province’s governor) and his son Marc Douglas Cagas IV who succeeded him as congressman.

The dismissal order was issued some two months after the TRC executives were formally charged at the Sandiganbayan for their complicity in the misuse of the Cagases’ P22-million pork barrel funds.

Both lawmakers allegedly used TRC as a conduit in misusing their Priority Development Assistance Fund.

Both were accused of receiving kickbacks amounting to P9.3 million and P5.5 million, respectively, allegedly through former Energy Regulatory Commission chair Zenaida Ducut.