Manila: Graft charges were ordered filed by the Office of the Ombudsman against a former national police chief and several top officials in connection with the purchase of defective rubber boats in 2008.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales asked the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan to charge retired Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Jesus Verzosa and seven other PNP officers for the anomalous purchase of 75 defective police rubber boats.

The rubber boats had been intended for use in rescue operations during calamities, but probers found out that the watercraft fell short of meeting the specifications stipulated in its purchase.

Other than Verzosa, those charged for violation of the country’s Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Law were PNP Deputy Directors General Jefferson Soriano, Benjamin Belarmino, Jr, Police Directors Luizo Ticman, Ronald Roderos and Romeo Hilomen, as well as Chief Superintendents Herold Ubalde and Villamor Bumanglag.

The case stemmed from the Complaint and Supplemental Complaint filed on November 15, 2011 and February 17, 2012, by the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman.

In the resolution issued on September 26, 2012, Morales affirmed findings of the Special Panel of Investigators that stated that the government government had been defrauded in the anomalous 131,550,000 peso (Dh11,535,761) purchase of the rubber boats.

“The Resolution describes that the procurement of the 75 police rubber boats (PRB) and 18 spare engines or outboard motors (OBM) was part of PNP’s Annual Procurement Plan for 2008 under its Capability Enhancement Programme Funds,” the Ombudsman said

The PNP National Headquarters Bids and Awards Committee conducted on September 9, 2008 a bidding for the rubber boats, wherein among the three proponents which participated in the bidding, only the Joint Venture of Enviro-Aire and Stoneworks Specialist International Corporation was found eligibile. But the bids and awards committee instead recommended to the PNP Chief the discontinuance of the bidding process and resorting to negotiated procurement.

The PNP chief reasoned that due to the effects of two destructive typhoons in 2009, Ketsana and Parma, there is an immediate need to procurethe boats.

But the Special Panel of Investigators pointed out that while the bid and awards panel stated that resorting to negotiated procurement was in response to the destruction by the typhoons, the boats were never used for the said purpose.

Likewise, it was noted that when the boats were delivered, their actual specifications failed to meet the requirements.

“The Technical Inspection Committee on Watercrafts discovered various deficiencies in these equipment, which make their use risky to end-users,” and the boats and engines were not functional when fitted together, thus, unusable for PNP’s disaster operation efforts.

Aside from the boat deal, Versoza and other police officials were also indicted earlier for the anomalous purchase of three law enforcement helicopters.

The said case involved the husband for former president Gloria-Arroyo, Jose Miguel Arroyo.