Ombudsman dismisses BFAR chief for grave misconduct

MANILA — The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the dismissal of Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Chief Director Demosthenes Escoto after finding him guilty of grave misconduct in the procurement of transmitters and transceivers for the DA-BFAR’s Integrated Marine Environment Monitoring System Project Phase II (PHILO Project).

PHILO was created to establish the Vessel Monitoring System for commercial vessels that sail within and beyond the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

The “grossly disadvantageous” contract Escoto entered into, however, gave “unwarranted benefit” to a particular company, based on the 22-page decision.

According to the Ombudsman, the Department of Finance and French Embassy entered into a loan agreement in 2015 wherein France will lend 28.5 million euros to finance PHILO. One requirement was, the products that will be used must come from French suppliers.

Two firms—CLS Collecte Localisation Satellites, and SRT-France, a subsidiary of SRT-United Kingdom (SRT-UK)—participated in the bid. The latter bagged the contract in 2018.

The French embassy in the Philippines, however, said SRT-France was ineligible since it does not have activities in France and has no manufacturing or engineering facilities in the said country. Its parent company, SRT-UK, was also incorporated and located in the UK.

Instead of calling for another round of bidding, Escoto and members of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) terminated the contract because “the source of the fund for the project has been withheld or reduced through no fault of the Procuring Entity,” a “misleading” reason, according to the Ombudsman, since the French embassy was still very much willing to continue with the loan agreement.

DA-BFAR also changed the source of funding to local instead of foreign, while seeking a bigger budget from P1.68 billion to P2.1 billion. With this, the government procured 5,000 units of VMS transceivers, a number that the complainant, James Mier Victoriano, called excessive.

In January 2020, the Commission on Audit said P722 million of the final budget was not properly accounted for.

Escoto and co-accused Hansel Didulo, former Assistant Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA), argued that SRT-France was eligible since it was registered in France.

They added that the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Department of Finance and Department of Budget and Management approved the increase in budget, the switch to local funding, and the holding of a third and final procurement.

The two said the 5,000 units were not excessive since there were 6,901 commercial catcher and carrier vessels as of July 2016 as stated in the 2017 Philippine Fisheries Profile.

DA-BFAR had also already submitted the needed documents in relation to the P722 million.

RULING

In its ruling, the Ombudsman sided with the requirement of the French embassy in the loan agreement and said that SRT-France was not a qualified bidder.

It concluded that an “anomalous scheme” was entered into in order to award the contract to SRT-UK.

“These series of events are circumstantial evidence proving that the contract for the PHILO Project was, at the very first instance, meant by Escoto to be awarded to SRT-UK,” the Decision read.

The Ombudsman also found that there was an excess of 1,264 VMS transceivers since based on the 2017 Philippine Fisheries Profile, there were only 3,736 commercial fishing vessels above 30 gross tons.

Thus, it said, “This is a contractual obligation that is grossly disadvantageous to the government and unreasonably beneficial to SRT-UK.”

As to the alleged unaccounted P722 million, the Ombudsman said this was duly explained.

With Escoto dismissed from service, his retirement benefits are forfeited and he is perpetually disqualified from working in government. He can still appeal the decision, however.

Administrative charges against Didulo, on the other hand, were dismissed for lack of evidence.

NEW BFAR OIC

In light of Escoto’s dismissal, DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel appointed on Wednesday Isidro Velayo, Jr., as BFAR’s Officer-in-Charge.

Velayo was a former regional director for the Zamboanga peninsula and former national coordinator of BFAR’s seaweed program.

“OIC Isidro Velayo, director IV and assistant director for technical services, is a career professional and respected official of BFAR. My marching order to him is to ensure that operations of the agency will not be affected by this legal development,” Tiu Laurel said.