Ex-Isabela mayor convicted of graft for anomalous road project

The Sandiganbayan has convicted a former municipal mayor and an agriculturist in Luna, Isabela of graft for the anomalous construction of a road project in 2008 without public bidding.

In a decision, the special Third Division found former municipal mayor Manuel Tio and his agriculturist Lolita Cadiz guilty of graft for manifest partiality, gross inexcusable negligence and evident bad faith for foregoing public bidding when the municipality directly contracted with supplier Double A Gravel and Sand for the construction of a one-kilometer Harana-Mambabanga road project in 2008.

The court sentenced each of them to suffer imprisonment of six years and one month as minimum, to eight years as maximum, with perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

Tio was found guilty as the mayor who ordered the construction of the road project, approved the disbursement voucher and signed the check for the payment of P2.5 million to Double A.  Cadiz was found guilty of certifying the availability of the budgetary allotment.

The court noted that Tio did not give a justifiable reason to forego public bidding and resort to the alternative mode of procurement.

Under the memorandum of agreement with the provincial government, the municipality is tasked to implement the road concreting projects by administration, which meant it directly administered the project, whereas Double A only supplied the gravel and sand.

In his testimony, mayor Tio admitted that no bidding was conducted for the procurement of materials from supplier Double A, because there were no available funds at the time due to the delay in the release of the funds from the provincial government.

Then Isabela governor Grace Padaca earlier promised to release the funds after 50-percent completion.

Tio said the management proceeded with the project despite the lack of funds. The municipality received the funds from the provincial government after 80 percent completion of the project.

The court said Tio still continued the project without public bidding despite knowing full well that there were no funds for the project.

“Despite knowing fully well that the public bidding could not be conducted because the municipality did not have the funds, accused Tio, nevertheless, decided to proceed with the road concreting project. No explanation was made for the haste in the implementation of the project,” the court said.

The court also said Tio approved the disbursement voucher for the payment of P2.5 million to Double A despite the lack of supporting documents and deficiencies on the voucher.

Documents that must be attached are purchase request, purchase order, and acceptance or inspection report.

The court said Tio signed the voucher even though there was no signature from the municipal treasurer.

“The court finds that accused Tio’s acts of awarding the contract to Double A without public bidding and his approval of the disbursement voucher despite the lack of supporting documents, are attended with manifest partiality and gross inexcusable negligence,” the court said.

The members of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) testified against Tio after the latter ordered them to prepare the bidding documents to make it appear bidding was conducted after auditors questioned the project.

The Commission on Audit issued a notice of suspension after inspecting the project and finding the following deficiencies – no value added tax deduction, and no other pertinent documents attached to the voucher except the official receipt.

The members of the BAC, who had no role in the procurement, resigned from their positions after they refused to comply with the mayor’s instructions.

Municipal engineer Aurelio Battad testified that his table was relocated to the front of the municipal hall and he was made to act as a security guard after the mayor found out his refusal to prepare the bidding documents.

The court also found Cadiz guilty of being “remiss in her duties as municipal accountant” when she signed the disbursement voucher that certified the obligation of the allotment even though the supporting documents were not complete.

“By making such certification, she was complicit in causing the unlawful disbursement of public funds… The failure of accused Cadiz to perform her duty constitutes gross inexcusable negligence on her part,” the court said.

The court said the fact that the funds were donated by the provincial government does not exempt them from following the requirements in the Local Government Code.

Lastly, the court noted that the project did not cause injury to government because the project was duly completed.

But the absence of injury does not mean the respondents were not guilty of the graft offense of giving unwarranted benefit or preference to the supplier, the court said. CDG/rga