By Czarina Nicole Ong
Cagayan De Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno, formerly the provincial governor of Misamis Oriental, has been charged anew with two graft cases before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division in relation to the reportedly anomalous lease of an excavator for the province.
Mayor Oscar Moreno (photo by wikimedia commons)
In the charge sheet filed by assistant special prosecutor III Jorge B. Espinal, Moreno was accused of violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act alongside provincial administrator Patrick Gabutina, acting provincial budget officer Elmer Wabe, acting provincialaAccountant Divina Bade, and assistant provincial engineer Rolando Pacuribot.
From January to August 2009, the accused local officials reportedly acted with manifest partiality when they awarded to Equipment Corporation the contract for the lease or rental of one unit excavator in the total amount of P3,974,250.
From June 1 to 30, 2011, they awarded another contract of lease in the amount of P524,475.
They paid Equipment despite several irregularities, such as the lack of public bidding and the absence of any reason for them to resort to alternative modes of procurement.
Their bail bond has been set at P60,000 each, with the exception of Gabutina who was only included in a single graft charge.