MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the filing of graft and malversation cases against Samar second district Rep. Milagrosa Tan over the alleged anomalous procurement of P69 million worth of medicine and dental supplies when she was governor from 2005 to 2007.
In a decision signed recently, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales charged Tan before the Sandiganbayan with five counts of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits public officials from giving unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference to any party, including the government, or from causing undue injury.
Tan also faces three counts of violating the law’s Section 3 (g), which “prohibits public officials from entering into any contract or transaction manifestly and grossly disadvantageous to the government, whether or not the public officer profited or will profit” from it.
These are aside from the five counts of malversation of public funds, a violation of Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code.
Also charged were treasurer Bienvenido Sabanecio Jr., former accountant Francasio Detosil, former administrative officer Rolando Montejo, former officer-in-charge of the general service office Ariel Yboa and former supply officer George Abrina along with Roselyn Larce, representative of Pasig-based supplier Zybermed Medi Pharma.
Graft investigators said the purchase, supposedly done using the provincial government’s health fund, was attended with several irregularities as observed by the Commission on Audit (COA) in its annual audit reports and audit observation memorandum.
The ombudsman said that based on COA observations, the intended beneficiaries of medicine and dental supplies could not be ascertained due to the provincial government's lack of distribution list.
The COA also noted that the excessive purchase was done despite the steady increase in the year-end inventory balance of drugs from 2005 to 2007.
The ombudsman said the purchase irregularities were affirmed when COA issued its Notices of Disallowance (NDs) in August 2007 for more than P69 million worth of medicine and dental supplies, saying these were “disallowed for being unnecessary and non-responsive to the exigencies of the service.”
COA also noted the lack of supporting documents for the disbursement of funds and sufficient storage space for the large quantity of goods, non-submission of proof of consumption by the barangays, absence of proof that the items were received and inspected, and non-validation that the drugs were actually used for claimed medical missions.
The ombudsman also said Zybermed had no valid business permit to be eligible to accept the multimillion-peso payments.