ILOILO CITY — The 13th Division of the Court of Appeals has ordered the reinstatement of three police officials dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman for the alleged anomalous purchase of 16 police coastal crafts (PCCs) for the Philippine National Police Maritime Group (PNPMG) in 2015.
Associate Justice Socorro B. Inting, in a decision on January 30, ordered the reinstatement of Senior Superintendents Cornelio R. Salinas, Nepomuceno MM Corpus Jr, and Michel Amos S. Filart.
The Ombudsman came out with a consolidated resolution on June 2, 2015 recommending the filing of criminal information against the three for violation of Section 3 (e) of RA 3019, otherwise known as Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. The three were also held administratively liable for grave misconduct with the penalty of dismissal.
The Ombudsman cited them for grave misconduct for allowing one supplier for the 16 PCCs, which was a violation of Section 48 and 53 of Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act of 2003.
However, Inting said they agreed with the petitioners that “their resort to a negotiated procurement was justified due to the calamities that wreaked havoc to the country, especially tropical storms ‘Ondoy’ and ‘Pepeng’.”
“It is observed that the PNP-MG-BAC (Bids and Awards Committee) conducted the negotiated procurement with utmost transparency and in accordance with the rules and NAPOLCOM (National Police Commission) specifications,” the decision stated.
“Records show that it even got the best deal for the government when it was able to secure an approved contract which was lower than the initial budget allocation of P5,000,000,” it added.
The division ruled that the offenses against them be reversed and set aside, the complaint for grave misconduct be dismissed and all accessory penalties attached be recalled and lifted.
With their reinstatement, they must also be paid their salaries and other emoluments during the period when they were out of service as a result of the Ombudsman order.
Meantime, Salinas said that the decision was just a “partial victory” as they looked forward to the order of the Department of the Interior and Local Government for them to go back to the service. (Perla Lena/PNA)
