9 DPWH execs sacked over Asean lampposts

MANILA, Philippines – The Office of the Ombudsman yesterday ordered the dismissal from public service of a director of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), eight other officials of the agency, and eight city engineers of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities in Cebu province for alleged overpricing of decorative lampposts installed for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit held in Cebu last year.

In a 25-page decision, Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez said DPWH Regional Director Robert Lala, formerly assigned at Region 7 and now at the National Capital Region office of the department, and the other respondents have committed the administrative offense of grave misconduct for acquiring 1,800 lampposts and other street lighting facilities that were excessively overpriced.

The case involved the acquisition and installation of lampposts and street lighting facilities along the streets of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities for the 12th ASEAN Summit held in January 2007. The Ombudsman said Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arthur Radaza should also be held liable since, as the properly designated
official with the duty to protect the government at all times, he should have been discerning in affixing his signature on documents for the lighting facilities.

“The DPWH officials are the ones who most obviously appear to be liable as they were the ones who approved all programs of work, awarded the projects to winning contractors, and executed the corresponding contracts,” Gutierrez stressed.

Also dismissed from the DPWH were Gloria Dindin, former assistant director for Region 7; Marlina Alvizo, assistant director and chair of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the regional office; Pureza Fernandez, officer-in-charge of the Maintenance Division; Cresensio Bagolor, assistant chief of Maintenance Division; BAC members Agustinito Hermoso, Luis Galang, Restituto Diano, and Buenaventura Pajo.

The city engineers of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities involved in the project were likewise ordered dismissed. They were identified as Hidelisa Latonio, Gregorio Omo, Mario Gerolaga, Alfredo Sanchez, Rosalina Denque, Julito Cuizon, Fernando Tagaan Jr., and Rodelio Veloso.

The Ombudsman also ordered the dismissal from service of former Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano for approving the Program of Works and Detailed Estimates (POWE) of the facilities despite the glaring overprice. But since Ouano no longer holds public

office, penalties of forfeiture of benefits and perpetual disqualification were imposed on him.

Aside from dismissal from public service, charges of violation of R.A. 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) were also filed yesterday with the Sandiganbayan against Lala, Ouano, and the other DPWH officials and city engineers.

Gutierrez also filed graft charges against Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Radaza, Isabelo Braza, president and chairman of contractor Fambik Construction and Equipment Supply Company; and Gerardo Surla, chairman of Gambik Construction and Development, Inc.

The Ombudsman said Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., however, was not included in the charges because he was not identified as a respondent in the complaint filed by various groups after the investigating panel reviewed the complaints.

“We based it on evidence, not on allegations. The investigation was based on the complaint and Secretary Ebdane was not included. So we don’t have basis to charge him,” said Assistant Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni.

Ebdane said the DPWH has not received any communication yet from the Ombudsman on the case of Lala and the eight other DPWH officials.

He said the department would exhaust all legal means to help Lala and the eight officials who have been ordered dismissed by the Ombudsman.

He said they will ask the anti-graft court to reconsider its decision, and if they lose in the graft case, they could still seek the intervention of the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Lala denied having any knowledge of the accusations against him.

“Wala akong alam, wala akong alam. Prayer na lang muna kami dahil wala kaming kasalanan dyan (I don’t know anything, I don’t know anything. We’ll just pray since we have no fault here),” Lala said.

Gutierrez issued the order upon recommendation of the fact-finding committee created by Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas to investigate the alleged anomaly in the P365-million project.

She ruled that the overpricing was proven by simple comparison of the POWE prepared by Mandaue City and importation documents of the lampposts from China.

The import documents showed that the cost of the poles used for the lighting facilities was ten times cheaper compared to the declared prices.

A single-arm pole was imported at P7,536, but was declared in the POWE at P72,500. The government paid P85,500 each for double-arm poles that actually cost only P8,121. A triple-arm pole originally cost P9,523 but was padded ten times and declared at P95,000.

The apex-type lampposts originally cost P6,738 each while the dome-like lampposts could be bought at P11,750. Their prices were supposedly declared at P50,000 each in the POWE.

Lala, Dindin, Fernandez and Bagolor did not file any counter-affidavit with the anti-graft body during the investigation.

Some of the respondents argued in their respective defenses that the costs in the importation documents should not be used as basis for assessment as they were declared for taxation purposes only.

Officials of the DPWH regional office in Cebu also maintained that the price estimates for the lampposts were reasonable and competitive.

But the investigating panel stressed that the overpricing of the lampposts based on documents was undeniable.

“By their signatures (in the contracts), respondents own up not only to their respective participation in the preparation of the subject documents, but also whatever import and consequences arising from there.

Inevitably, they should be made accountable for the overpriced costs they placed in the Program of Works and Detailed Estimates,” the Ombudsman said in its decision.