Ex-DepEd exec gets18 years for graft

MANILA, Philippines — A former official of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Zamboanga peninsula has been sentenced to a maximum of 18 years in prison for the anomalous purchase of information technology (IT) materials.

Former regional director Jesus Nieves was meted a maximum prison term of 10 years for graft and another eight years for falsification of public documents.

The Sandiganbayan’s First Division issued the ruling on Friday.

Nieves was slapped with the accessory penalties of  perpetual disqualification from holding public office, payment of P4,776,786 in damage to DepEd and a fine of P2,000.

Court records showed Nieves purchased IT materials amounting to P4,776,786 in April 2006 from Felta Multi-Media Inc. through direct contracting instead of public bidding as required under the Government Procurement Reform Act.

The court said a resolution of the bids and awards committee was falsified to make it appear that the BAC recommended the purchase of the materials through direct contracting.

While there was no direct evidence showing that Nieves was the one who falsified the BAC resolution, the Sandiganbayan said “case law teaches that he who stands to benefit from such falsified document is legally presumed to be the author thereof.”

The court said a Commission on Audit (COA) report in 2007 showed the DepEd regional office received P4,776,786 from the Department of Budget and Management, but the amount was not recorded in its book of accounts.

The COA said there were no disbursement vouchers and other supporting documents to prove that the purchase was above board.

The Sandiganbayan said the purchase was initiated despite a moratorium in the procurement of supplementary and reference materials to ensure that available funds are used to address the backlog in textbooks and teachers’ manuals.

“What made the matter worse is...that the accused was not able to come up with any reliable proof to show that the procured items had...been delivered...Neither did the defense present any of the supposed beneficiaries of the said items to debunk...the audit report,” the court ruling read.