Ombudsman-Investigation-in-Eternity

Hole of Justice

by Peter G. Jimenea

Ombudsman - Investigation-in-Eternity

Two years and three months had lapsed since Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro tinkered the 2005 original decision of the Ombudsman indicting former Mayor Mansueto Malabor and Mayor Jerry Trenas in the most despised project Iloilo City ever had – the Employees Housing Project.

To recap, the Iloilo City Employees Housing Project is for the construction of 413 houses of lowly City Hall employees (bankrolled by a P125M bond floatation bought by the Philippine National Bank). It is widely believed a supposed legacy of the graduating Mayor Malabor in 2000.

But as he has to go, the project was handed over to the newly elected Mayor Trenas for implementation in 2001. Few have the faintest idea that even before the construction started, Trenas has ordered PNB to release P19.6M as advance payment to the contractor Ace Builders of Alex Trinidad. Looks like the cart has overtaken the horse pulling it.

Again, no Performance Bond was reported to have been posted by the contractor to guarantee the completion of the project. Then the P125M city obligation with the PNB. was transferred to the Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) On why, Mayor Trenas has yet to say. But the transfer cost is P12M, (for documentation kuno) which eventually raised our accountability from P125 to P137M.

The sad part of this story is the discovery of substandard materials being used by the contractor Ace Builders. It caused the resignation of an engineer assigned to the project site. Alarmed by the report, the city council immediately passed a unanimous resolution urging Mayor Trenas to rescind the contract and sue the contractor.

But it fell on deaf ears. The mayor continued paying the contractor’s billing in millions when under Article 1191 of the Civil Code of the Philippines, it says; “The power to rescind obligations is implied in case one of the obligors could not comply what is incumbent upon him.” But the mayor did nothing to protect the taxpayers’ money!

He could have confiscated the performance bond posted by the contractor had he obliged the latter to put up one as guarantee to finish the project. But there was none. His deliberate neglect caused the four city councilors to file a case against him and the contractor at the office of the Ombudsman in 2004.

Upon learning of the case, the contractor abandoned the project without even a unit standing and completed. But did not, until another billing was paid by the mayor. Despite the residual imperfection their will was done. Jurisprudence says, Culpa lata dolo a equiparatur – gross negligence is equivalent to malice or intentional wrong. (Balatbat vs CA, 261 SCRA 128).

Other than the four city Councilors, Raul Gonzalez, Jr., Atty. Antonio Pesina, Dr. Erwin Plagata and Concordia Manikan, Atty. Romeo Gerochi also filed a separate case against the mayor and all the people involved at the Ombudsman’s Office. But as the cases just lie there and seem to die there, he called it the “Office of Monalisa!”.

On May 9, 2005, the Ombudsman resolved the case which held Mayor Trenas similarly liable with former Mayor Malabor et al. But on August 10, 2010, days after Ombudsman Monalis… ehe este, Merceditas Gutierrez resigned, Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro brought a revised decision to the Ombudsman-Visayas, Iloilo Office.

The decision upheld the indictment of Malabor et al, but ordered the Deputy Ombudsman-Visayas to probe further the involvement of Trenas in the housing mess. My God, his unauthorized payment to the contractor is already embraced in RA 3019. Casimiro perhaps believe, his, is a demonic ehe, este Solomonic decision. Sus gino-o, evil it can only be!

(Next issue, no probable cause to indict Mayor Trenas?)