Bacolod Mayor Monico Puentevella said he believes it will take a long time before the case  against him  involving the purchase of alleged overpriced computers or Information Technology packages gets finally decided.

Puentevella said he is leaving the matter to his lawyers since it will involve a long process. “Let us continue with our job and continue to push for our programs,” he said.

One thing’s for sure, everyone knows who accused him, Puentevella said, adding,  “See you in 2016.”

The Ombudsman denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Puentevella seeking the reversal of its decision indicting him, Victorino Tirol, former regional director of the Department of Education Region VI, and Jessie Garcia, chairman of  Merryland Publishing Corporation, in connection with the purchase of overpriced computers worth P25 million when the Mayor was still a congressman.

The Ombudsman, however, saying it has no basis to reverse its Sept. 30, 2013  decision,  ordered the filing of the case against Puentevella, Tirol and Garcia before the Sandiganbayan.

The case stemmed from Puentevella's use of  his Priority Development Assistance Fund, also known as "pork barrel," from 2002 to 2007 for information technology packages for elementary and secondary schools in Bacolod, that were supposed to be defective and unsuitable for school use.

City Administrator Rolando Villamor had said Puentevella is ready to face the criminal charges for alleged violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act once is it formally filed in the Sandiganbayan.

The mayor is determined to face the charges in the Sandiganbayan because he wants this case finally decided to prove his innocence, he said.

Villamor added that Puentevella has maintained his innocence as he did not participate in the bidding and purchase of the said IT packages. He only provided P25 million of his PDAF when he  served as congressman of Bacolod City.

In a separate decision, the Ombudsman dismissed Tirol from the service, but since he is already retired, it converted the penalty to a fine equivalent to one year’s salary,  payable to the Ombudsman.

The 8-page decision dismissing the motions for reconsideration of Puentevella, Tirol and Garcia, penned by assistant special prosecutor III Ana Isabel Arellano, was signed by the Ombudsman, Conchita Carpio Morales on Jan. 8, 2014.

The decision noted that Puentevella and company, “gave unwarranted benefits and advantage to Merryland…by awarding it a multi-million-peso contract for the purchase of Informational Technology packages without conduct of public bidding.”

The respondents “caused undue injury to government by depriving it the opportunity to get the most advantageous offer resulting in its purchase of overpriced IT packages,” the decision also said.

They also “acted with evident bad faith and manifest partiality when they violated the requirements of the law on public bidding and awarded the contract to Merryland,” it said.

It also threw out the argument of Puentevella that he did not participate in the procurement process. The Ombudsman’s decision cited his letter introducing a representative of Merryland to DepEd.

Puentevella’s letter also authorized “Bethel Garcia of Merryland to transact with DepEd Region VI for the delivery, release and payment of the IT package,” it noted. 

In their complaint-affidavit in 2007, lawyers Allan Zamora (now deceased, but was the City Legal Officer at the time of filing of case), Bayatan, and Vicente Petierre alleged that Puentevella, Tirol, and Garcia committed anomalies in the procurement and distribution of IT packages.

They said that Puentevella allocated funds from his PDAF from 2002 to 2007 for the purchase of IT packages at P400,000 each. They added that the DepEd-Western Visayas regional office, then headed by Tirol, procured the items from Merryland Publishing Corporation, based in Mandaluyong, without the conduct of a public bidding.

The COA had made the same conclusion in its management letter on the Audit of DepEd Regional office VI, the Ombudsman also noted.

 Quoting a report of the Investigation Committee of the Bacolod City Legal Office dated March 26, 2007, the complainants alleged that the IT packages are "overpriced, defective, and non-functional," and that some of the school-beneficiaries have not received them.

Each computer package, which comes with accessories, costs P400,000. The whole package was reportedly overpriced by P14 million, according to the CLO Investigation Committee Report in 2007.*CGS

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