The Office of the Ombudsman has found probable cause to charge former Norala, South Cotabato mayor Romeo Januto with violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) in connection with the highly irregular procurement of P1.8M worth of fertilizer in 2005. Also charged are municipal accountant Grace Mediana, municipal treasurer Carlos Bengil and Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) chairman Dominador Escucha, Jr. and member Victor Balayon.
The charges were based on the findings of the Commission on Audit that no competitive public bidding was conducted for the contract awarded to RCS Trading (RCS) in violation of Republic Act No. 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Act).
The records revealed that Januto, et. al. prematurely resorted to direct contracting as a mode of procurement when they immediately awarded the contract to RCS without first showing that there were no suitable substitutes from other suppliers at terms that were more advantageous to the government.
According to the Ombudsman, the respondents acted with manifest partiality when “they subscribed to the procurement through direct contracting and not through a competitive public bidding” and that “by subscribing to the procurement through direct contracting, [they] gave RCS Trading unwarranted advantage or preference.”
Any act relating to a public official’s administrative or judicial functions which causes undue injury to any party, or gives rise to unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference to any private party through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence is punishable under Section 3(e) of R.A. No. 3019. ###