Graft charges vs Vicencio junked

Malabon City Mayor Amado Vicencio yesterday said the long-delayed construction of the new City Hall may finally begin to move after the Ombudsman junked the graft charges filed against him by two opposition councilors last year.

Councilors Ma. Luisa Roque-Villaroel and Edilberto Torres filed charges of grave misconduct and dishonesty against Vicencio before the Office of the Ombudsman.

In a five-page decision, Ombudsman Aniano Desierto, "without necessarily delving into the merits of the case," ruled that the complaints be dismissed because Vicencio "is an elective official."

Desierto held that by virtue of the May 14 polls this year, the alleged wrongful act attributed to Vicencio "has been condoned by reason of his re-election." Had he lost, Desierto added, the charges would have been rendered moot and academic.

Citing a Supreme Court ruling, Desierto said that "a public official cannot be removed for administrative misconduct committed during a prior term." The Ombudsman said this was so because Vicencio’s re-election to office operates as a condonation of the officer’s previous misconduct to the extent of cutting off the right to remove him from the office he previously held.

Desierto further said that public policy dictates the exoneration from administrative liability of the re-elected official "on the ground that it would open a floodgate to endless partisan contest" between the re-elected official and his political enemies. He said these detractors may not stop to hound the re-elected mayor during his new term with administrative cases alleged to have been committed by him during his previous term.

Torres and Villaroel, in filing the charges early last year, denounced the mayor’s alleged irregular awarding of the contract for the proposed construction of a new P122-million city hall in Barangay Catmon to an entity not registered with, and therefore not recognized, by both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board.

The complainants said that under the law governing the licensing of contractors in the Philippines (RA 4566), a separate license must be secured for the joint venture of Principal Management Group (PMG) and Serg Construction, Inc. (SCI) in addition to their individual licenses to be qualified to bid in a government infrastructure project.

The two added that since the project cost is more than P50 million, the award should have been referred to the Office of the President through the Executive Secretary for approval.