The Sandiganbayan acquitted an official of the Marikina Polytechnic College (MPC), one of those charged with irregularities in a procurement process in 2006.
The anti-graft court’s Sixth Division cleared Alejandrina Ancheta after the prosecution failed to prove her guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
In July last year, the court acquitted Ancheta’s co-accused and fellow MPC Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) members Efren Azares (chair), Ermielinda Flaminiano, and procurement officer Juanito Macapanas.
Ancheta surrendered and posted bail on November 25 while co-accused Sarurnino Quintal remains at large.
MPC president Manuel Pangilinan died on Sept. 28, 2015 and the cases against him were automatically dismissed.
“The purchase orders would show that it was accused Pangilinan alone, on behalf of the MPC, who entered into the contract,” read the decision dated April 28 and uploaded recently.
The accused were charged in two bidding transactions for the procurement of a vehicle engine worth PHP55,968 and for printer/copiers worth PHP60,000.
The purchase of the engine was requested by Limuel Cirineo, automotive instructor at the MPC, for the entrepreneurial program Go Negosyo.
The winning bidder, Evolution-R, requested to pull out the unit, claiming it had not been advised that the quoted price would be subjected to value-added tax.
A rebidding resulted in the supplier still making the lowest bid of PHP55,968, or PHP20,000 lower than the next lowest bid.
In the July ruling, the court noted that while there was no question that Evolution-R’s second quotation was higher than its first price quotation by PHP7,968, the price under the contract entered into by Pangilinan with the supplier “cannot be said (to be) grossly and manifestly disadvantageous to the government”.
The court also noted that in the other questioned contract for the supplier of copiers, the transaction was eventually called off.
“Thus, although there was no justification for resorting to direct contracting, no unwarranted benefits were given because it appears that the transaction did not proceed,” the court said.
Source: Philippines News Agency