The Office of the Ombudsman has found probable cause to file graft and malversation charges against Senator JV Ejercito over the allegedly anomalous procurement of high-powered firearms during his term as mayor of San Juan City.
CHARGES FILED
The Ombudsman, in a statement released Tuesday, said also facing charges for technical malversation are other San Juan City officials, namely Vice Mayor Leonardo Celles, and City Councilors Andoni Carballo, Vincent Pacheco, Angelino Mendoza, Dante Santiago, Rolando Bernardo, Grace Pardines, Domingo Sese, Francis Peralta, Edgardo Soriano, Janna Ejercito-Surla, Franciso Zamora, Ramon Nakpil and Joseph Torralba.
The Ombudsman also found probable cause to file charges for violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act against members of the Bids and Awards Committee, namely City Administrator Ranulfo Dacalos, Treasurer Rosalinda Marasigan, City Attorney Romualdo Delos Santos, City Budget Officer Lorenza Ching and City Engineer Danilo Mercardo.
Dacalos, Marasigan, Delos Santos, Mercado and Barazon were also found guilty of misconduct and ordered suspended without pay for six months.
HIGH-POWERED GUNS
According to the Ombudsman, investigation showed that Ejercito requested for authority to procure high-powered firearms using the City Council’s calamity fund in February 2008, claiming that the purchase was “an investment for disaster preparedness.”
The Ombudsman, however, noted that the city of San Juan was not placed under a state of calamity at that time. It also stressed that under DBM-DILG Circular No. 2003-1, high-powered firearms are not among the items contemplated for disaster relief and mitigation.
Ejercito “acted in concert with the members of the city council who authorized him to purchase firearms using the city’s calamity funds paving the way for the application of public funds for a purpose different from the one for which they were originally appropriated by law,” Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said.
The firearms purchased by the respondents, after the councilors passed a city ordinance authorizing the procurement for the San Juan Police Department, were three units of model K2 cal. 5.56mm sub-machine guns and 17 units of Daewoo model K1 cal. 5.56mm sub-machines guns in the total amount of P2.1 million.
The Ombudsman, in its 20-page joint resolution, said there was a “hasty procurement of specific high-powered firearms of a particular brand sans competitive bidding and without any post-qualification, bolstered by bid documents bearing dates earlier than the publication of the invitation to bid, showing that an unwarranted benefit, advantage and preference” was accorded to the supplier.
JV SURPRISED
Ejercito, for his part, said he was surprised over the latest development, noting that he had already been cleared by the Commission on Audit (COA) after their attention was called on the improper use of calamity funds for the firearms purchase.
“Alam ko naman na na-justify namin lahat. Napakaingat ko diyan,” said Ejercito.
He said the city government used its supplemental budget instead of the calamity fund.
He also noted that the firearms purchase for the local police was when there was an increase in the number of crimes in the city such as robberies and hold-ups.
Ejercito said his lawyer, Sigfried Fortun, might file a motion for reconsideration. (with report from Adrian Ayalin, ABS-CBN News)
This article has been re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.
