Manila: Online sources cannot be used in building up a plunder case, thus stated the Ombudsman while dismissing charges versus ranking officials tagged in an alleged overpriced government project.
The Office of the Ombudsman, or the anti-graft prosecutor, on Wednesday dismissed a case for plunder and malversation of public funds filed in 2014 by former Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada against Senate President Franklin Drilon, a known political ally of President Benigno Aquino III, as well as Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson, and Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. The charges were made in connection with the construction of the Iloilo Convention Centre (ICC) in Philippines’ Western Visayas region.
In its decision, the Ombudsman office said that “there is no basis for this Office to charge respondents with malversation of public funds and plunder.”
“There is also no specific evidence that respondents appropriated, misappropriated, consented, or through abandonment or negligence, permitted another to take the subject funds,” it added.
Mejorada, a journalist, had accused the three officials of conspiring to defraud the government by overpricing the 1.2 hectare, two-storey structure in Iloilo City’s Mandurriao district.
He said the infrastructure was overpriced by as much as P488 million (Dh40.31 million).
In the 27-page ruling by the Ombudsman government anti-graft prosecutor assailed Mejorada for relying on online sources in filing his case.
The complainant himself had admitted during the Senate hearing that he had no material evidence to prove his allegations, and that he merely relied on online sources such as “Wikipedia.”
“Complainant’s reliance to online sources cannot be given credence in establishing the culpability of respondents. Given the seriousness of the allegation, [the] complainant should come forward not with unreliable sources, but with concrete evidence,” the Ombudsman stressed.
Incidentally, the project contractor involved is Hilmarc’s Construction Corporation, which is also implicated in the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall Parking lot case in Metro Manila.
It also said that Mejorada’s allegation that Drilon and the other had made kickbacks from the project as the total cost of the ICC should have only been pegged at P192,000,000 is “misplaced.”
The Ombdusman likewise dismissed Mejorada’s claim that there was no public bidding conducted for the project.
“Contrary to complainant’s allegation of rigged bidding, competitive bidding was still observed even during the negotiated procurement stage,” it underscored.
The Ombudsman stressed that “having failed to establish the commission by respondents of the criminal offences charged, it finds it unnecessary to dwell on the alleged existence of conspiracy [among Drilon, Singson, Jimenez, and others].”
A portion of the funds or P250 million that were spent for the construction of the ICC was taken from Drilon’s Priority Development Assistance Fund.
Drilon is a key member of the Liberal Party which is headed by Aquino.
