Ombudsman Gutierrez orders the filing of criminal charges against 2 Cebu mayors, 19 others for the Cebu lamp post controversy

Press Release
By Office of the Ombudsman
April 21, 2008

Ombudsman Ma. Merceditas N. Gutierrez ordered the filing of criminal charges against two City Mayors and 19 others in connection with the Cebu lamppost controversy.

In a 30-page Resolution, Ombudsman Gutierrez ordered the filing of charges for Violation of RA 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) against former Mayor Thadeo Ouano of Mandaue City and Mayor Arthuro Radaza of Lapu-Lapu City; OIC-City Engr. Hidelisa Latonio, Asst. City Engr. Gregorio Omo, and Engrs. Mario Gerolaga, Alfredo Sanchez Sr., and Rosalina Denque, all of Mandaue City; City Engr. Julito Cuizon, Asst. City Engr. Fernando Tagaan Jr. and Engr. Rogelio Veloso, all of Lapu-Lapu City before the Sandiganbayan.

Also ordered charged were DPWH Region VII Dir. Robert Lala, Former Asst. Reg. Dir. Gloria Dindin, Asst. Reg. Dir. Marlina Alvizo, OIC-Chief Maintenance Div. Pureza Fernandez, OIC-Asst. Chief Maintenance Div. Cresencio Bagolor, Reg. Legal Officer Agustinito Hermoso, Planning and Design Div. Chief Luis Galang, Administrative Div. Chief Restitutio Diano, and Construction Div. Chief Buenaventura Pajo.

Isabelo Braza, President and Chairman of the Board, Fabmik Construction and Equipment Supply Company, Inc.; and Gerardo Surla, Chairman of the Board, Gampik Construction and Development, Inc. were likewise ordered to be included in the charge.

The case stemmed from the investigation conducted by the Public Assistant and Corruption Prevention Office (PACPO) of the Ombudsman-Visayas on the acquisition and installation of lampposts and street lighting facilities along the streets of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-lapu cities for the 12th ASEAN Summit.

Based on the investigations conducted by the fact-finding team of the PACPO-Visayas, it was found that “the subject lighting facilities, as acquired and/or paid for by the government, were highly overpriced.”

The fact-finding team arrived at the said conclusion after comparing the costs of the lampposts as indicated in the Programs of Work and Detailed Estimates prepared by Mandaue City and as reflected in the importation documents. 

It said “comparing the costs above, the cost of each lamppost, apparently, was expanded to almost ten (10) times its actual cost.”

In their respective counter-affidavits, the respondent local government officials claimed that their act of signing the Programs of Work and Estimates never had any weight or value insofar as the implementation of the street lighting project was concerned.  On the other hand, officials of the DPWH Regional Office in Cebu maintained that the price estimates for the street lighting project were all reasonable and competitive.

In its decision however, the Ombudsman said that of all respondents, the DPWH officials “are the ones who most obviously appear to be liable” as they are the ones who “approved all the programs of work, awarded the projects to the winning contractors, and executed the corresponding contracts.“

On the part of the respondent local officials, the Ombudsman ruled that they could not be exculpated even if it were true that they were pressured or otherwise obliged into signing the Programs of Works and Detailed Estimates.  The Ombudsman said that “as properly designated officials with the duty to protect the government at all times, they should have been discerning in affixing their signatures on the lighting facilities.”

Thus, in a separate Decision, Ombudsman Gutierrez also ordered the dismissal from the service of DPWH officials Lala, Dindin, Alvizo, Fernandez, Bagolor, Hermoso, Galang, Diano, and Pajo for Grave Misconduct.

Local officials Ouano, Latonio, Omo, Gerolaga, Sanchez, Denque, Cuizon, Tagaan, and Veloso were likewise ordered dismissed from the service for similar offense.