BACOLOD City – Five former officials of the National Housing Authority (NHA) were found guilty of graft for the overpayment of a “ghost” project in this city in 1992.
The Sandiganbayan Second Division sentenced the following to 10 years in prison for paying a project contractor a “bloated” amount:
* Josephine Angsico, NHA Visayas Management Office manager
* Virgilio Dacalos, manager
* Felicisimo Lazarte Jr., regional project director
* Josephine Espinosa, project management officer
* Noel Lobrido, supervising engineer
They were also barred from holding public office.
Two of the accused – Jose M. Cruz, Triad and Development Corp. (Triad Construction) president, and Robert Balao, former NHA general manager – died while the case was being tried.
Triad Construction was paid P1,280,964.20 in September 1992 for the final work accomplishment on the Pahanacoy Sites and Services Project here even though the actual work cost only P330,075.76, the Sandiganbayan said in a decision dated Dec. 7, 2018.
Cruz requested to be paid only P351,144.42. Less the 5-percent retention tax, the net payment was supposedly only P330,075.76, said the court.
“Conspiracy became apparent … when the subject Final Quantification was signed and approved by the Inventory and Acceptance Committee chaired by [Lazarte] to support the final billing, including another Abstract of Physical Accomplishments signed by the wife of [the] president of Triad Construction,” the Sandiganbayan said.
According to the court, another Abstract of Physical Accomplishment was created “to justify a larger payment when it was not clear that Triad Construction indeed accomplished additional works or if there was any such additional work to begin with.”
For processing the second Abstract of Physical Accomplishment “without even verifying its veracity,” the accused were “guilty of violating provisions of the Anti-Graft [and Corrupt Practices Act],” said the Sandiganbayan.
All the accused filed a motion for reinvestigation on June 1, 2001, court records showed.
They claimed there was no actual preliminary investigation conducted before the Office of the Ombudsman since they were not notified of such case and they were unable to controvert the evidence against them. They also alleged they were deprived of their right to due process.
The prosecution argued that, contrary to their allegation, the accused filed a motion to transfer investigation, dated Apr. 7, 1998, with a request for extension of time to file a counter-affidavit for a period of 20 days.
According to the accused, the Ombudsman Visayas did not notify them that there was such case and thus they were unable to file a counter-affidavit.
In its resolution dated Sept. 6, 2001, the Sandiganbayan ordered the reinvestigation of the case. The prosecution was given an inextensible period of 60 days from receipt of the order to terminate the reinvestigation and submit a report. (With Philippine News Agency/PN)
