Suspension of
Samar gov,
4 others for graft sought
GOVERNMENT prosecutors yesterday asked the
Fourth Division of the Sandiganbayan to place Samar provincial
governor Milagrosa Tee Tan and four other high-ranking
provincial officials under preventive suspension in connection
with eight counts of grafts charges filed against them.
Cornelio L. Somido, director of the Office of
the Special Prosecutor-Bureau IV, and assistant special
prosecutor Jacinto M. dela Cruz Jr. said the validity of the
charges is now beyond question after the arraignment of all
defendants.
Charged with Tan are administrative officer
Rolando B. Montejo, treasurer Damiano Z. Conde, accountant Romeo
C. Reales, budget officer Maximo D. Sison and property
inspection officer Numeriano C. Legaspi.
The cases against them were filed at the
Sandiganbayan in 2004 based on a complaint of Fr. Noel Labendia,
parish priest of the Diocese of Calbayog and founding leader of
Isog Han Samar Movement, an anti-corruption group in the
province.
Labendia claimed the officials were in
cahoots in approving anomalous purchases of P16.1 million worth
of supposed "emergency supplies" without any public bidding.
Graft investigators said the purchases included rice, medical
items and electric fans earmarked for typhoon victims in 2001.
Some of the purchases were made on request by
municipalities even before the typhoon struck, including one
which was dated two months before the calamity.
In addition, delivery of hundreds of sacks of rice were
contracted to Wilmart’s Mini Mart which was not a registered
grain supplier and had a capitalization of only P100,000.
Prosecutors also found that Wilmart was 107 kilometers away from
Samar which made delivery of several hundreds of sacks of rice
in just one day "improbable." – Peter J. G. Tabingo
