MANILA, Philippines -- The Supreme Court (SC) junked the graft case filed against former Parañaque City mayor and actor Joey Marquez in connection with the city government's acquisition of almost 6,000 pieces of walis tingting (broomstick) in 1996 without public bidding.
In its decision, penned by Justice Antonio Eduardo Nachura, the High Court also acquitted Ofelia Caunan, then officer-in-charge of the general services offices of Parañaque, for lack of sufficient evidence.
The verdict reversed the Sandiganbayan’s Aug. 30, 2007 decision and Mar. 10, 2008 resolution, which found the two former city officials guilty of the Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
"The gross and manifest disadvantage to the government was not sufficiently shown because the conclusion of overpricing was erroneous since it was not adequately proven," the SC decision said, noting that the Sandiganbayan merely relied on the findings of the Commission on Audit (COA) regarding the alleged overpricing.
Though the COA finding was based on the special audit team's report, it did not include a signed price quotation from the broomstick suppliers of Parañaque City.
The SC maintained that "the absence of a public bidding may mean that the government was not able to secure the lowest bargain in its favor and may open the door to graft and corruption. However, this does not satisfy the third element of the offense charged, because the law requires that the disadvantage must be manifest and gross."
In January 1996, Parañaque officials entered into a contract with businessman Antonio Razo of ZARO Trading for the purchase of 5,998 broomsticks at P25 each, totaling to P149,950, sans a public bidding.
COA later discovered that a broomstick only costs P11 each, overpricing the acquisition by P83,972
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