The Sandiganbayan has acquitted 10 former Bataan provincial officials and a private individual of their graft charges in the purchase of a patrol boat in 2006 for P142,500.
Cleared for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilty beyond reasonable doubt were Imelda D. Inieto, Alicia R. Magpantay, Emerlinda S. Talento, Ludivina G. Banzon, Enrico T. Yuzon, Evangeline A. Diaz, Godofredo O. De Guzman, Pedro D. Baluyot, Analyst IV Angelina M. Villanueva, and Francisco T. Caparas, and private individual Ernesto R. Asistin Jr.
In filing the graft charges, the prosecution claimed that the purchase of the four-cylinder patrol boat from Asistin was done without the conduct of public bidding, and payment was made even before the delivery.
During the trial, the anti-graft court found that two public biddings were conducted for the procurement of a patrol boat with a six-cylinder gas engine, but both failed. The first bidding failed because the winning bidder was not qualified, and there were no bidders during the second bidding.
In clearing all the accused, the court said that the totality of the evidence did not show how any of them acted with manifest partiality, evident bad faith, or gross inexcusable negligence when they failed to comply with the provisions of Republic Act No. 9184, the Government Procurement Reform Act.
While the accused should have conducted another public bidding after the specifications for the patrol boat was changed from a six-cylinder engine to a four-cylinder engine, the court "finds that there was no manifest partiality nor evident bad faith on the part of herein accused, and that the accused attempted in good faith to comply with the provisions of RA 9184 and its IRR" (implementing rules and regulations).
"Given the two previous failed public biddings, the conduct of a negotiated procurement and the absence of qualified suppliers, it may seem more practical for those concerned to simply adjust the specification and the requirements to allow the procurement to proceed," the decision stated.
Sixth Division Chairperson Sarah Jane T. Fernandez penned the 77-page decision with the concurrence of Associate Justices Karl B. Miranda and Kevin Narce B. Vivero.