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The former Department of Agriculture secretaries are acquitted of graft charges linked to a 2010 irrigation equipment procurement amid a drought crisis
MANILA, Philippines – A pair of former secretaries of the Department of Agriculture of two administrations were acquitted by the Sandiganbayan of the graft charges filed against them six years ago due to alleged irregularities in the purchase of equipment for crop irrigation during the long dry spell of 2010.
Bernie Fondevilla and Proceso Alcala, agriculture chiefs during the Arroyo and Aquino administrations respectively, were absolved by the Sandiganbayan’s Sixth Division in a decision promulgated on Thursday, May 22.
The anti-graft court said in its 137-page decision that while it found likely deviations from government procurement standards attributable to the defendants, these did not amount to a criminal offense.
Aside from Fondevilla and Alcala, also acquitted were: former Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) Silvino Tejada, Procurement Unit head Sonia Salguero, Bids and Awards Committee Rodelio Carating, Diosdado Manalus, and Ernesto Brampio; BSWM officers Ester S. Santos, Arnulfo Gesite, Wilfredo Sanidad, and Rafael Monte, and private defendants Elmer Baquiran and Eduardo Villamor.
The cases involved alleged unwarranted preference given to agriculture equipment supplier Agri Component Corp. (Agricom) in the procurement of 1,500 shallow tube well (STW) pump and engines worth P116.925 million in the first contract in April 2010 under Fondevilla, and P27.48 million based on the second contract in September 2010 under Alcala’s watch.
The Office of the Ombudsman said the contract was awarded to Agricom via a negotiated procurement while the second transaction pushed through even if there was no second failed public bidding.
The graft investigators noted that only Agricom was invited in the negotiated procurement when another bidder participated during the first failed bidding.
The court cleared the accused after considering the testimony of BSWM field officers that fast response was needed because the agricultural sector was reeling from the effects of a severe drought, which could lead to billions of pesos of losses.
The anti-graft court said the DA officials were able to prove that that there was a need for urgency in the face of an imminent danger that justified application of nonstandard procedures.
“It was a judgment call …and for good reason. Occasionally, extraordinary circumstances demand out-of-the-box thinking, if not emergency measures. Otherwise, everything will be for naught,” the court added.
The court said the accused members of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) secured the most advantageous price for the government from a supplier of proven good standing.
“There is nothing from which we may infer dolus malus (bad faith) from the specific violations of the procurement statutes referred to in these cases. Deviations per se do not give rise to criminal liabilities under other statutes since they do not by themselves prove dolus malus,” the Sandiganbayan said. – Rappler.com
