Graft raps vs ex-Negros mayor junked

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – The Office of the Ombudsman has dismissed the criminal charges filed against a former municipal mayor of Negros Occidental and a private contractor.

In a resolution dated Dec. 22, 2014, but obtained only late last week by local journalists, the Office of the Ombudsman dismissed the charges against former Murcia mayor Esteban Coscolluela and Julieta Cunanan, president and chief executive officer of the Systems and Plan Integrator Development Corp. (SPIDC), a firm engaged in supplying computer software.

 The case, filed by incumbent Murcia Mayor Andrew Montelibano on Oct. 16, 2010, stemmed from the P16.8-million computerization project under Coscolluela’s term in 2009.

Montelibano alleged the project was overpriced and no bidding was conducted. He said the SPIDC has no patent for the software application it was offering to the municipal government.

Coscolluela denied the allegations, saying a bidding was conducted, published in a widely circulated newspaper and posted on the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System website.

He said seven companies expressed interest in the project, but only SPIDC submitted bidding documents.

Cunanan said there was no conspiracy between SPIDC and the municipal government in implementing the project.

The ombudsman said there was nothing wrong with the awarding of the project to SPIDC and the transaction did not cause damage to the government as the municipal government has neither paid SPIDC nor started paying amortizations to the Land Bank of the Philippines, where the fund for the project was loaned.

The anti-graft agency said Montelibano failed to prove the project was overpriced.

Montelibano said he respect the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman, but would like to reiterate the facts and evidences that support their case.

He said he filed a motion for reconsideration last Feb. 7, seeking to reverse the decision.