By Czarina Nicole Ong
Just a week after he was charged with graft this year, former Iloilo Rep. Augusto Syjuco Jr. has been slapped with another graft charge before the Sandiganbayan Seventh Division due to his involvement in the anomalous P30 million deal for the contract services for the TESDA e-Portal project.
Augusto Syjuco Jr. (Michael Varcas / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Syjuco, who was then the director general of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), was accused of violating Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019 of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, together with bids and awards committee (BAC) members Teodoro Sanico, Buen Samarista Mondejar, Ernesto Beltran, Annabelle Talato Quimbo, and Guillermina Lopez Aguilar.
Prime Logic Corporation (PLC) President Jason Chua dela Rosa and representative Emily Pacquing were likewise charged.
In the charge sheet filed by Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer II Rowena Vidad, they were accused of conspiring with one another in giving unwarranted benefits and advantage to PLC back in October 2007 when the company was awarded the contract of services of the Integrated TVET Management System through the TESDA e-Portal in the amount of P30 million.
However, the award was granted despite several irregularities and instances of fraud, according to Vidad.
First, the invitation to apply for eligibility and bid posted by the BAC in newspapers did not indicate the approved budget for the contract, fund source, contract duration, and delivery schedule of the e-TESDA portal project.
Second, the BAC failed to adhere to the requirement of R.A. 9184 requiring at least three to five short-listed consultants in the selection of prospective bidders and consultants.
PLC was said to be technically and financially unqualified to undertake the e-Portal project, and there was no valid source of fund or prior appropriation for the e-Portal project, contrary to the certification of Quimbo.
The bail bond has been set at P30,000. On January 12, Syjuco was charged with graft before the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division due to the anomalous use of his Country-Wide Development Fund (CDF), which was intended for the Education for All Program in the municipality of Pavia.
From August to December 2004, Syjuco gave preference to Tagipusuon Foundation Inc. in the amount of P999,900 by "predetermining, designating and allowing the foundation to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the municipality of Pavia."
However, the NGO reportedly managed to "pad the amount spent for the program" and "defraud the government in the amount of P999,900" because the accused officials failed to scrutinize the documents submitted by the foundation.
Syjuco also has two graft and malversation charges before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division for endorsing Tagipusuon to implement his social, economic and health services program in the second district of Iloilo. He diverted P4.3 million from his priority development assistance fund (PDAF) to the NGO.
He is also facing criminal charges for the irregular implementation of the P5 million fertilizer fund project by a different NGO.