Manila: The governor of Negros Oriental in the Central Philippines has been accused by the government anti-graft watchdog of illegally using funds allotted for the reconstruction of facilities damaged by natural calamities in 2011 and 2012.
Governor Roel Degamo, 50, a member of the opposition PDP-Laban (Democratic Party of the Philippines-People’s Struggle Coalition), has been charged by the office of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales with committing malversation by falsifying public documents to secure the release of government funds.
The state defines “malversation” as the act of any public officer who, by reason of the duties of his office, misappropriate government funds or property. “The Ombudsman ... has found probable cause to indict Degamo for 11 counts of malversation through falsification and one count of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for proceeding to award 11 infrastructure projects amounting to P143.2 million (Dh10.4 million) despite lack of funds,” the watchdog said.
Besides Degamo, provincial treasurer Danilo Mendez and provincial accountant Teodorico Reyes have also been charged.
The Ombudsman said the charges stemmed from the illegal use of the calamity funds intended for the repair, rehabilitation and construction of structures damaged by Typhoon Washi (referred to as “Sendong” in the Philippines) in 2011 and the 6.9-magnitude earthquake in 2012.
Washi was the most destructive typhoon to hit the country in 2011. However, its impact was mainly centred in Northern Mindanao.
The typhoon left more than a thousand people dead in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City.
As for the magnitude 6.9-quake, at least 52 people were killed in what is now referred to as the region of Negros.
It had been reported that in the aftermath of the two calamities, Degamo had requested the Department of Budget and Management a Special Allotment and Release Order (SARO) for P961.5 million (Dh58.9 million) ... out of which P480.7 million (Dh37.6 million) was immediately released to the provincial government.
A few days later, the budget department informed Degamo that the SARO was being withdrawn due to the failure of the province to comply with existing guidelines for infrastructure projects. Despite this notice, the governor proceeded to award the infrastructure contracts amounting to P143.2 million, representing the 15 per cent advance payment to contractors.
Upon review, the Commission on Audit rejected the SARO release orders for 11 projects.
The department found probable cause to indict the governor and the other officials mentioned for “their unilateral act of ignoring DBM’s authority”, which it termed as “indicative of bad faith, manifest partiality and/or gross inexcusable negligence which caused undue injury to the government”.