Sandiganbayan dismisses graft charge of Olongapo City mayor
Posted 5 years ago
Olongapo City Mayor Rolen Calixto Paulino of Zambales has been cleared by the Sandiganbayan Seventh Division of his graft charge in relation to the reportedly anomalous lease and development of the Olongapo City Civic Center back in 2014 to 2015, after his motion to quash was granted.
He was initially slapped with a violation of Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, alongside several city officials.
From October 2014 up to the first quarter of 2015, Paulino and his co-accused were accused of fast-tracking the award for the lease and development of the Olongapo City Civic Center Contract to SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPHI).
They were faulted for not complying with the provisions of R.A. 6957 or the Act Authorizing the Financing, Construction, Operation, and Maintenance of Infrastructure Projects by the Private Sector, as amended by R.A. 7718 and its implementing rules and regulations.
Paulino stated in his motion to quash filed on May 27 that the facts charged in the information do not constitute an offense. He said that the provisions of the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) law do not apply in this case because “this law only covers specific contractual agreements which do not include a straight lease agreement.”
Paulino further stressed that the BOT law provisions do not include a “simple lease contract.”
While Paulino harped on the simplicity of the lease agreement, the anti-graft court said in its ruling that it still has to examine the nature of it and settle once and for all if it is indeed covered by the BOT law.
A perusal of the lease agreement dated December 16, 2014, showed the court that the 38,749 square meters of land owned by Olongapo City was leased to SMPHI for commercial purposes. The lease agreement aimed to develop the land for mixed commercial use, which included a mall, hotel tower, buildings for business process outsourcing (BPO) offices, parking buildings, and a transport terminal.
The court explained that infrastructure projects refer to the construction, improvement, and rehabilitation of roads and bridges, railways, airports, seaports, and communication facilities, among many other things. In this case, the lease of the property cannot be considered as an infrastructure project.
“Considering that the true nature of the lease agreement is for commercial purposes, it thus follows that the said contract is outside the scope of the BOT Law and its implementing rules which govern infrastructure or development projects,” the decision stated.
“Consequently, the accused could not be faulted for their alleged failure to comply with the provisions of the BOT Law,” it added.
Paulino’s co-accused included Vice Mayor Aquilino Cortez Jr. as well as Councilors Elena Calma Dabu, Benjamin Cajudo II, Eduardo Guerrero, Noel Atienza, Alruela Bundang-Ortiz, Edna Elane, Emerito Bacay, Randy Sionzon, and Egmidio Gonzales Jr.
Also included in the charge sheet are Tony-Kar Balde III of the City Planning and Development Office, Cristiflor Buduhan from the Office of the City Accountant, Anna Sison of the Office of the City Legal Officer, Mamerto Malabute of the Office of the City Administrator,
Department Head II Joy Cahilig from the Office of the City Budget Officer – all members of the SBAC.
Since Paulino’s co-accused filed their respective motions to quash and applied the same argument, the graft charges filed against them were likewise dismissed.
The 19-page resolution was written by Chairperson Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta with the concurrence of Associate Justices Zaldy Trespeses and Georgina Hidalgo.
Source: news.mb.com.ph
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