Talisay officials may face probe

CEBU, Philippines - Five months after the Commission on Audit recommended an investigation on personnel responsible for the illegal disbursement of almost P6 million worth of projects, a concerned citizen in Talisay City asked the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to preventively suspend officials of the Technical Working Group of the Talisay City government and conduct lifestyle checks on them.

Job order employee Kevin Juezan asked the Ombudsman to investigate the officials of the TWG after COA found that the city spent about P5.8 million in several transactions that were supported by fake bidding documents.

The TWG, which is working under the city’s Bids and Awards Committee, is composed of assistant city engineer Gamaliel Vicente, fellow city engineer Arnel Bacalso, General Services Office worker Dwight Damalerio, City Hall mechanic Fortunato Mata and former city consultant for solid waste management Edwin Nierves.

Juezan, who identified himself as a job order employee working for the Talisay City government, urged the anti-graft office to impose a preventive suspension on the members of the TWG, along with other public officials and employees “in order to not cause further damage to the government.”

In his letter, Juezan claims that TWG members along with other officials had violated Article 171 of the Revised Penal Code and Republic Act 3029 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for allowing the illegal disbursement, which was revealed by a COA Internal Audit Report dated Aug. 28, 2013.

In a 2012 audit report, the COA stated that the administration of former mayor Socrates Fernandez allegedly violated the law by allowing the release of P5,866,930 in various transactions that involved falsified canvass documents.

COA auditors said some of the signatures on the canvass documents for the repair of city-owned vehicles and heavy equipment were forged and one of the private contractors had ceased operations in 2010 yet.

COA already recommended that the Talisay City government conduct an impartial investigation and institute appropriate sanctions against personnel responsible for the disbursements. COA also advised the TWG to scrutinize canvass and bid documents to ensure fairness and transparency in the bidding process.

Juezan also asked the Ombudsman to conduct a lifestyle check on those involved in the transaction to determine how much they earned from the controversial transactions.

However, Vicente said that while he and his companions are willing to face a possible inquiry, he questioned why the TWG were the only ones subjected to the complaint.

“Mas maayo noon nga niabot na sa Ombudsman para madesisyonan nila ang kaso base sa merits,” Vicente said, adding that based on the designated process flow when it comes to government bidding, they are responsible for making the pre-inspection report needed before the canvassing.

Vicente is the former chairman of the TWG, which is responsible for the procurement planning, purchasing, contract management and procurement monitoring.

He denied that his group was responsible for the issuance of the fake canvass documents as it is the task of the GSO to come up with the canvass. —/BRP (FREEMAN)