Three former officials of Cainta town in Rizal have been convicted of violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Local Government Code in the irregular purchases of scanner and miscellaneous supplies in 2000.
Former municipal budget officer Privada B. Gonzales and officer-in-charge of the general services office Marciano A. Doroteo were found guilty of two counts of graft each and one count each of violation of Section 89 (a) of Republic Act No. 7160, the Local Government Code on prohibited business and pecuniary interest.
Also, former budget officer III Glady G. Formales was convicted of one count of graft and one count of violation of RA 7160.
On their conviction for graft, they were sentenced to a prison term ranging from six to 10 years for each count, and six months to six years for violation of RA 7160.
They were also ordered to pay a fine of P5,000 each for their violation of RA 7160.
For their graft conviction, Gonzales and Doroteo were held ordered to jointly pay the government P502,700.
The cases against their co-accused -- former mayor Nicanor C. Felix, municipal treasurer Herminia M. Cruz, municipal accountant Ophelia C. De Guzman, and Joriel Trading owner Ariel C. Bautista have been ordered archived pending their arrest.
The anti-graft found that those convicted, who were all members of the Prequalification, Bids and Awards Committee for Miscellaneous Supplies of the Municipal Government of Cainta, purchased a Contex scanner for P1,400,000 from private individual Bautista, without the conduct of competitive public bidding on Aug. 18, 2000.
Meanwhile, the purchases of miscellaneous supplies from Tueance Alera Gentrade Industries (TAGI) for P448,607 from Nov. 11, 2000 to July 25, 2001 were also done without public bidding and they violated Section 89 of R.A. 7160 because Tueance is owned by Formales and her husband, Alden.
The prosecution proved that the Contex scanner from Joriel Trading was overpriced by P502,700 after the conduct of canvass from another supplier. Joriel offered it at P1,400,000, while CONTEX.COM offered it at only P897,300.
The court also found it suspicious that Joriel ordered the scanner and had it delivered as early as April 2000 considering that the intended personal canvass for it had not actually taken place.
"This circumstance speaks volumes as to the illicit intentions of the accused and clearly shows that they had already predetermined the award of the contract to Joriel Trading, which thereby gave to the latter unwarranted benefit," the court said.
On the purchases of miscellaneous supplies, Doroteo argued that the purchases need not undergo public bidding as they did not exceed P60,000 for each transaction. Formales, on the other hand, relied on the argument of good faith and added that she had no hand in the procurement process.
However, the anti-graft court pointed out that 15 transactions were made with TAGI. While it is true that each purchase did not exceed P60,000, the provision of the Commission on Audit (COA) in its Memorandum Circular 92-386 prohibits the act of "splitting" requisitions.
"Splitting," the court explained, is the act of breaking up requisitions to smaller quantities to avoid review and induce the approval of higher authorities. In this case, the totality of the purchases made by the municipality for each month exceeded the limit prescribed by Section 367 of the Local Government Code and the COA circular, it said.
"It irrefutably shows the clear intent of accused public officers to repeatedly contravene the procurement rules and procedures to give unwarranted benefit to TAGI without conducting public bidding, and outside the bounds expressly provided under the law, illustrates their fraudulent intent on their part to defraud the government," the court said.
On the other hand, Formales denied any liability in the transactions since she argued that she did not have direct supervision over the offices with which TAGI entered contracts.
But the prosecution managed to prove her "direct and active participation" in the procurement by showing documents bearing her signatures, such as the Purchase Orders of the miscellaneous supplies and official receipts for payment to TAGI, the court also said.
Associate Justice Kevin Narce B. Vivero wrote the 75-page decision with the concurrence of Sixth Division Chairperson Sarah Jane T. Fernandez and Associate Justice Karl B. Miranda.