CEBU Metropolis –– The Sandiganbayan on Monday acquitted a former Bacolod congressman and mayor more than the controversial order of P26 million info know-how packages for general public educational institutions.
In its 34-web site determination, the anti-graft court reported the prosecution unsuccessful to confirm the guilt of Monico Puentevella and his co-accused Jessie Garcia, the proprietor of the agency that equipped the details technological innovation deals.
The court also absolved Puentevella and Garcia of any civil legal responsibility and ordered the release of the quantity they deposited for their provisional liberty.
The keep-departure get versus the accused was also lifted and set apart.
Puentevella was ecstatic after mastering about the court’s verdict.
“Praise the Lord. After 13 yrs, justice and the truth of the matter prevails,” he stated.
Puentevella and Education and learning Regional Director Victoriano Tirol had been accused of conspiring with Garcia, president, and chairman of the board of Merryland Publishing Corp. (MPC), in buying IT Deals truly worth P26 million without the need of the carry out of general public bidding from 2002 to 2006.
The IT deals had been procured using the Precedence Progress Help Fund of Puentevella.
Tirol passed absent on March 21, 2014, so his criminal and civil liabilities were extinguished.
Puentevella advised the Sandiganbayan that it was the Department of Schooling that had the authority to conduct the bidding of the job and that he had no participation in any way in the approach or procurement of the IT deals.
His participation was merely to distribute the laptop or computer deals to the faculties, and that the scenario versus him was just political harassment.
The Sandiganbayan, in its conclusion promulgated Monday, mentioned the court docket finds that the proof adduced is insufficient to prove that the three accused conspired to procure the IT packages devoid of public bidding.
It was the DepEd Bids and Awards Committee that resorted to direct contracting in the procurement of the IT Offers from MPC, the conclusion said.
The justification provided was that MPC is the exclusive distributor of the IT deals to be procured dependent on the technical specs in the order request.
“Accused Puentevella was not component of the entity that procured the IT deals by way of immediate contracting… His participation was confined to financing the procurement of the IT offers as a result of his PDAF,” the selection claimed.
The decision of the Sandiganbayan next division was penned by Associate Justice Oscar Herrera Jr. and concurred by Affiliate Justice Michael Frederick Musngi and Bayani Jacinto.
The situation was filed by the late Allan Zamora who was the city legal officer of Bacolod under Mayor Evelio Leonardia, Puentevella said.
“It was submitted by those obsessed with destroying my integrity and family identify and employing this circumstance to wipe out and harass me in the earlier elections, but I’m grateful to all people who supported and thought in me all these many years,” Puentevella stated.
Edited by LZB

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