The Sandiganbayan has convicted former Davao Del Sur Governor, now Malita Mayor, Benjamin Bautista, Jr. and five others for the illegal procurement of high-end vehicles worth P5.5 million in 2003. Convicted of four counts of violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019) are Bautista, Richard Martel, Allan Putong, Abel Guiñares, Victoria Mier and Edgar Gan. They were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from six years and one month to eight years for each count and were also ordered perpetually disqualified from holding public office.
Ombudsman prosecutors presented several auditors from the Commission on Audit (COA) who testified that in their special audit, they found that the accused, then members of the Bids and Awards Committee, procured two units of Toyota Hilux 4x4 at P1.25million each, one unit Mitsubishi L300 Exceed at P878,919.50 and two units of Ford Ranger 4x4 worth P1million and P1.2million. The COA auditors also testified that the high-end vehicles were procured through Direct Contracting.
In its Decision, the Sandiganbayan stated that “based on the testimony of the prosecution’s witness which was uncontroverted, the procurement in these cases were not covered in the annual procurement program” and that there was “haste in the procurement which ultimately benefited the dealers of the brands as no records were presented to show the urgency of the purchase.”
The Decision added that “the policy of sticking to a certain specified brand is prejudicial to the interests of the government as it tends to limit the area of acquisition and prevents other prospective qualified bidders from participating in the bidding.”
Section 3(e) of R.A. No. 3019 is committed by a public officer who causes any undue injury to any party, including the Government, or giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence.###