Plunder charges for PEA officials still possible

The government officials indicted for graft in the Sandiganbayan for their alleged involvement in the overpricing of the President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard (PDMB) in Parañaque City may still be held liable for plunder, a government prosecutor said.

"Nothing can prevent us from amending the information to plunder provided that new evidence is produced to show that they pocketed the money and everybody benefited from it," chief special prosecutor Dennis Villa Ignacio said.

Ombudsman probers said the 26 officials from the Public Estates Authority (PEA) and Commission on Audit (COA), as well as Jesusito Legaspi, owner of contractor JD Legaspi, had connived to bloat by 250 percent the budget for the 51-kilometer road stretch.

But evidence presented by whistle-blower and witness Sulficio Tagud fell short of the required evidence to upgrade the suit to plunder, a non-bailable offense that carries capital punishment if found guilty of the charges.

"The evidence was not enough. There was no proof that they benefited from the overprice. But if new evidence crops up, then we will definitely modify the case to plunder," Villa Ignacio said. Government prosecutors recommended a P30,000 bail bond for each of the 27 accused.

The Office of the Ombudsman said the PEA and COA officials, who said there was nothing wrong with the costings, have conspired to "unlawfully pay" Jesusito Legaspi a total of P532 million, which was "clearly improper, illegal and without the requisite presidential approval."

Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo said the PEA board gave unwarranted benefits and undue advantage to JD Legaspi by "illegally awarding" the PDMB project to the contractor "despite the lack of compliance with the mandatory requirements and procedure for bidding." "They all tend toward the accomplishment of the same felonious object to give Legaspi unwarranted benefit," a portion of the 60-page resolution read.

Marcelo said that as a result, the deal "caused undue injury to the government as their acts resulted in the overpricing of the PDMB project." "Thus, the government suffered undue injury, at the very least, in the amount of P532.9 million."