The Office of the Ombudsman has found probable cause to charge Ozamis City mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, Sr. and eight officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways Misamis Occidental Sub-district engineering office for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019). Facing trial before the Sandiganbayan for violation of Section 3(h) is Parojinog, while District Engineer Efren Berba, Accountant Cynthia Trangia, Engineers Dario Pusod, Vivian Lumingkit, Manuel Medina, Ramisis Jaimar Bicoy, Sofronia Uy and Administrative Officer Rosita Quinones face charges for violation of Section 3(e).
The criminal charges were filed in connection with anomalous procurement for the renovation of the provincial gymnasium in 2010. The Commission on Audit issued a Notice of Suspension for the project due to the conflict of interest between the end-user and the contractor, Parojinog and Sons. Evidence showed that mayor Parojinog, as representative of the end-user, is the father of Nova Princess Parojinog-Echavez, the managing partner of the contractor.
The Ombudsman stated that “it is clear that Parojinog and Sons is a family enterprise in which respondent Parojinog has financial and material interest with access to information that will likely influence the result of the bidding process, [and] should have been disqualified.”
Echavez also faces charges for violation of Section 3(h) of the Anti-Graft law. ###