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Sandiganbayan clears former Zamboanga del Sur governor anew

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Paige Javier

ABS-CBN News

<div></div>QUEZON CITY – The Sandiganbayan has acquitted former Zamboanga del Sur governor Aurora Cerilles and nine others of graft over supposedly giving unwarranted benefits to a company in the procurement of furniture and equipment for the provincial government in 2009.This stemmed from the 2017 complaint questioning forty-five transactions made by the accused through an alternative procurement method called &#x27;shopping,&#x27; instead of the usual public bidding.Under Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act, shopping is when a procuring entity requests for submission of price quotations for &#x27;readily available off-the-shelf goods&#x27; or regular equipment to be procured directly from qualified suppliers.The items in question were aluminum frames, executive tables, chairs, steel cabinets and glass partitions worth P8,589,510.54 purchased from Lucky Savers General Merchandise.<div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/10/9/sandiganbayan-dismisses-p276-million-ill-gotten-wealth-case-vs-marcoses-1143" id="isPasted">Sandiganbayan junks P276-M ill-gotten wealth case vs Marcoses </a></div>The Sandiganbayan cleared Cerilles, Provincial Administrator and Bids and Awards Committee Chairman Pepito Degamo, Provincial Legal Officer Mark Anthony Padayhag, Provincial Agriculturist Marilyn Bersales, BAC Members Tyrong Singgo, Wenefreda Cañada and Allan Cabatingan.  The Second Division also acquitted private individuals Liza Aranding and Arneil Aranding, then owners of Lucky Savers General Merchandise; and Cristie Cabrera, the sister of Liza and then owner of Jehn Cris Enterprises.&quot;The prosecution has failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused gave LSGM unwarranted benefit, advantage, or preference,&quot; the anti-graft court said.&quot;From the evidence presented, it is unclear if the said supplier was awarded the procurement contracts without the benefit of a fair system in determining the best possible price for government when LSGM had the lowest price quotations compared to the other two suppliers,&quot; it added.The prosecution alleged that the accused acted with manifest partiality, evident bad fail, and/or gross inexcusable negligence in the procurement of the items, to which the court agreed based on the irregularities in documents and procedure.<div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/regions/2024/9/5/sandiganbayan-acquits-former-zamboanga-del-sur-governor-of-graft-911" id="isPasted">Sandiganbayan acquits former Zamboanga del Sur governor of graft </a></div>The Second Division said the accused are guilty of splitting the contract, which is prohibited under the Procurement Law.&quot;The accused split the amounts in the documents to make them fall under the limited amount in order to avail of the alternative mode of procurement through shopping and thus avoid procurement through competitive bidding,&quot; it said. &quot;To meet the required threshold for shopping, each requistion was always in quantities with the total amount of less than P500,000, it added. However, similar to an earlier ruling in a separate graft case against Cerilles, the Sandiganbayan said violating the Procurement Law does not equate to graft.&quot;The Court finds that the prosecution was not able to establish the fourth element of Section 3 (e) of R.A. No. 3019 for the procurement of the subject pieces of furniture, fixtures and equipment. It was not able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the violation of procurement laws caused undue injury to any party, including the government, or gave any private party unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference,&quot; the anti-graft court said.The Sandiganbayan also said at least three price quotations from suppliers is enough.  It noted that the prosecution has not established beyond reasonable doubt that the above-mentioned five suppliers are not bona fide suppliers.<div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/10/10/judge-who-acquitted-de-lima-appointed-sandiganbayan-justice-1349" id="isPasted">Judge who acquitted De Lima appointed Sandiganbayan justice</a></div>The Second Division added, the prosecution failed to convince the court the existence of conspiracy among the accused.&quot;Based on the testimonies of the witnesses, it is doubtful that the accused even knew one another personally or that they had met for the purpose of defrauding the government and committing the offense charged. It was not proven beyond reasonable doubt that the accused public officers and members of the BAC acted in conspiracy with the suppliers who participated in the submission of price quotations,&quot; it said. The Sandiganbayan ordered the lifting of the Hold Departure Order issued against the accused and the removal of their names from the hold departure list of the Bureau of Immigration in so far as this case is concerned.

The Sandiganbayan has acquitted former Zamboanga del Sur governor Aurora Cerilles and nine others of graft over supposedly giving unwarranted benefits to a company in the procurement of furniture and equipment for the provincial government in 2009.

The Sandiganbayan has acquitted former Zamboanga del Sur governor Aurora Cerilles and nine others of graft over supposedly giving unwarranted benefits to a company in the procurement of furniture and equipment for the provincial government in 2009.