DILG suspends 3 Iloilo execs for paying for unused electricity

ILOILO CITY—The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has suspended for one year without pay three Iloilo provincial government officials in relation to the payment of unconsumed electricity to a power supplier.

The DILG provincial director Teodora Sumagaysay served the suspension order on Friday afternoon on provincial accountant Lyd Tupas, assistant provincial accountant Sandra Bionat and Ramie Salcedo, head of the Provincial General Services Office.

The suspension orders, which would take effect from today until Feb. 15, 2016, were individually served to the officials in the presence of Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor.

The suspension order was based on Ombudsman’s ruling, which found the three officials guilty of conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, and neglect of duty in relation to the overpayment by the provincial government of about P4 million of electricity supplied by Green Core Geothermal Inc.

The antigraft body also indicted former Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas and the three suspended officials in the criminal aspect of the case for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The Ombudsman found that the provincial government paid Green Core P5.88 million for electricity from December 2009 to April 2010 when its actual usage was worth only P1.88 million.

The billing was based on the contracted energy of 1,084,814 kilowatts per hour (kWh) even if the actual energy consumption of the provincial government was only 515,180 kWh.

The provincial government was anticipating an increase in power need due to the planned construction of the Iloilo Multipurpose Convention Center. But the project did not push through leaving the provincial government obligated to the power supply contract.

Tupas denied benefiting from the contract. “I did not pocket a single centavo from that contract,” Tupas told the Inquirer in an earlier interview.