Ombudsman Samuel Martires has reversed the dismissal order issued in November 2014 against then Guihulngan City Mayor Ernesto Reyes and seven other City employees for Grave Misconduct.
Cleared in the eight-page Order dated Dec. 17, 2018, which was received by the Respondents only last Friday, were Bids and Awards Committee Chair Remegio Sitones, BAC members Harlan Senas, Jesus Deposa, Pacifico Bulad, Jr., Harold Indab, BAC Secretariat head Selfa Cadorna, and BAC Technical Working Group member Jason Santos.
The Dismissal Order of Mayor Ernesto Reyes, however, was extinguished and dismissed due to the Aguinaldo Doctrine, following his re-election as Mayor of Guihulngan in 2010.
They were earlier ordered dismissed by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales for the purchase of vehicles and heavy equipment and the rehabilitation of city streets which the Ombudsman Investigating Committee said was in violation with provisions of Republic Act 9184, or the Procurement Law.
The Ombudsman said that there was no item in the City’s Appropriation Ordinance (and subsequent supplemental ones and a bank loan) for the projects and programs of the City in 2008. But in reversing the decision, the Ombudsman said the BAC could not be faulted for presuming that these appropriation ordinances were valid.
The Ombudsman also faulted the BAC for recommending for the purchase of the vehicles through Direct Contracting, an alternative mode of procurement. The Ombudsman said there was lack of substantial evidence to convict the respondents.
As to the rehabilitation of city streets, the contractor cemented the roads even though the approved budget, program of work and detailed estimates of the project was only for the asphalting of the roads.
In dismissing the case, the Ombudsman said the winning bidder, Uy ConDev, took the risk of proceeding with the project to take advantage of the good weather conditions and gave a 100 percent completion.
The Ombudsman also accepted the defense of good faith of the BAC in the purchase of heavy equipment. (AP)
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});