Ex-Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes charged over P1.5B Malampaya fund mess

MANILA, Philippines — Former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes and 41 other individuals are facing multiple criminal cases over P1.534 billion worth of alleged anomalous contracts that the provincial government entered into in 2008 using proceeds from the Malampaya gas project.

 

Filed by the Office of the Ombudsman before the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan, the charges include graft, falsification of public documents and violation of contracts involving public works projects under Presidential Decree 1759.

 

Reyes was named as the primary accused in 36 out of the 159 separate case information sheets filed by the ombudsman on February 24, copies of which were release to the media over the weekend.

 

Former provincial engineer Charlie Factor, meanwhile, was named as the primary accused in the rest of the cases.

 

Charges against Reyes involve 14 counts of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 (RA 3019) or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits a public official from giving unwarranted benefit, advantage of preference to any party, or from causing any party, including the government, undue injury.

 

Reyes was also named as the primary accused in 22 counts of violation of Section 3 (g) of RA 3019, which prohibits a public official from entering into any contract or transaction manifestly or grossly disadvantageous to the government.

 

The ombudsman set Reyes' bail bond at P1.080 million.

 

Posting bail at this stage, however, would seem futile since Reyes and his brother former Coron Mayor Mario Reyes are detained at the Puerto Princesa City Jail for murder charges over the killing of journalist and environmentalist Gerry Ortega in January 2011.

 

Meanwhile, Factor's bail bond was set at P3.604 million for 50 counts of violation of Section 3 (e) of RA 3019, 76 counts of falsification of public documents under Article 171 of the Revised Penal Code and seven counts of violation of Section 2 in relation to Section 1 of PD 1759.

 

Named as co-accused in the cases were 24 other former Palawan provincial officials and 16 private individuals representing various construction and supply firms.

 

Based on the information of the cases, Reyes, on behalf of the provincial government, entered into 203 contracts with 11 firms in 2008 amounting to P1.534 billion. The money for the contracts supposedly came from the Malampaya natural gas extraction operation in the province.

 

The contracts were for various public works and infrastructure projects for the municipalities of Balabac, Brook's Point, Busuanga, Culion Island, Coron, Quezon, Narra, Dumaran, Taytay, El Nido, Roxas, Rizal, San Vicente as well in Puerto Princesa City.

 

The projects include construction of school buildings, daycare centers and multi-purpose halls; construction, concreting or repairs of roads and bridges; San Vicente Airport development; Coron Bay development; solar panel and street light distribution; and construction of water transmission lines and disinfection site.

 

The ombudsman said several provisions of Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act were violated by the respondents such the non-posting of the invitation to bid in the provincial government's website, improper evaluation of bid proposals, as well as the non-submission of bidding documents by majority of the contractors.

 

Graft probers further alleged that the public respondents allowed just the same set of key personnel to supervise the construction works in different municipalities with overlapping timing of project implementation.

 

The ombudsman said this was “in contravention to what was agreed upon in the contracts that key personnel shall stay in the job site at all times and shall handle only one contract at a time.”

 

Further, the ombudsman said the contracts were disadvantageous to the government as there was no provision requiring the contractors to pay damages in case of delays in the completion of the projects as required under Section 68 of RA 9184.

 

The ombudsman said Reyes and the other public officials also conspired in approving the release of payments to the contractors despite the lack of supporting documents and “incompleteness of the projects.”

 

Factor and the other engineers as well as some state auditors were accused of falsifying work accomplishment reports and site inspection reports to make it appear that that the projects were completed.

 

Aside from Reyes and Factor, the other former provincial officials charged were Romeo Seratubias, provincial administrator; Ferdinand Dilig, provincial general services officer; Luis Marcaida II, provincial budget officer; Teofilo Palanca Jr., provincial treasurer; Samuel Madamba II, provincial planning and development coordinator; Rolando Bonoan Jr., provincial board member; Orlando Colobong provincial accountant; and Elena Vergara-Rodriguez, provincial legal officer.

 

Also charged were several former provincial engineers and regional state auditors namely: Manuel Cabiguen, assistant provincial engineer and administration inspectorate team leader; Federico Rubio Jr. assistant provincial engineer and operation inspectorate team leader; Alfredo Padua, engineer IV and quality control division chief; Renato Abrina, engineer IV; resident engineers Pepe Patacsil, Darrell Elivera,Bernard Zambales, Rolly Matudio, Bayani Buenaventura, Cecilia Colegio, Pedro Gatinga Jr.,Tommy Panes, Rosario Abacial and Romeo Llacuna; and state auditors from the Commission on Audit Region IV Edwin Iglesia and Ronelo Del Socorro.

 

The alleged anomaly supposedly involving Reyes and the Palawan officials was separate from the P900 million Malampaya fund scam in 2009, in which, then president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued an executive order allocating portion of the fund for farmers who were victims of Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng that hit the country that year.

 

It was later revealed in Senate investigation that the fund did not reach its intended beneficiaries and instead ended up to the pockets of several government officials and private individuals. The ombudsman had earlier cleared Arroyo of the scam.