The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the filing of 13 counts of violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019) against Proceso Maligalig and Agustiniana Avelino, members of the Board of Directors of the Bataan Shipyard and Engineering Corporation, Inc. (BASECO).
During their stint as BASECO board members, they made 13 cash withdrawals from October 2008 to December 2010 totalling P102,070,993.33. The cash withdrawals were made without stating any public purpose or justification nor were they supported by documentation.
“Both respondents stressed that the funds were justifiably used but no single piece of evidence was presented to corroborate their statement. Additionally, Maligalig and Avelino failed to enlighten this Office regarding the purposes for which the withdrawn amounts were intended and whether said purposes were truly served,” stated the Ombudsman.
In its Resolution, the Ombudsman also stressed that “withdrawing huge amounts from the coffers of BASECO sans proof that these amounts were properly disbursed or utilized constitutes bad faith. Certainly, these repeated withdrawals of BASECO funds resulted in quantifiable, pecuniary losses to the corporation, thus, constituting undue injury within the context of Section 3(e) of R.A. No. 3019.”
The complaints against other BASECO officials, Wilmar Lucero, Rene Cruz, Gloria Cortez, Socorro Santos and Anthony Jay Consunji were dismissed for lack of probable cause.
