Ex-governor Loong, ordered charged before the Sandiganbayan 02 June 2011, source: Ombudsman Website
visit
https://goo.gl/zf9rLbActing Ombudsman Orlando C. Casimiro ordered the filing of criminal charges before the Sandiganbayan against former Sulu Governor Benjamin Loong and a private individual for irregularities involving certain livelihood and infrastructure projects in 2007.
In a 25-page Resolution, Acting Ombudsman Casimiro ordered the filing of Informations for Violation of Secs. 3(a), (e) and (h) of RA 3019 (Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act) against Loong.
Kanoh Hajib, Chairman of the Bawisan Multi-Purpose Cooperative was also ordered charged with Violation of Sec. 3(e) of RA 3019 while the BJ Construction and Material Supply, Inc. and BJ Coco Oil Mill, Inc. were also ordered charged for Violation of Sec. 3(h) of the same law.
Records reveal that in 2006, the Dept. of Agriculture Regional Field Unit IX and the Provincial Government of Sulu agreed to undertake the construction of an ice plant with cold storage and a cassava production/post harvest facility, with project cost amounting to P8.2M and P4.2M, respectively.
Under a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), the ice plant and the cassava production facility are to be managed by the said cooperative. However, it turned out that the said cooperative is already inexistent and that it is BJ Coco Oil Mill, of which Loong is President and a member of the Board of Directors, which manages the two facilities. The ice plant and cassava production facility were also constructed inside the BJ Coco Oil Mill, which is owned and registered under the name of Loong.
The Resolution stated that “it is clearly made known that Benjamin Loong, through evident bad faith, caused undue injury to the Provincial Government of Sulu†when he conferred to BJ Coco Oil Mill, Inc. instead of the cooperative the management of the two facilities.
In an affidavit, Jesus Cabelin, Sulu Provincial Treasurer, stated that Loong “had ordered and instructed him on different occasions to cause the disbursement of cash advance of funds intended for the ice plant with cold storage with 5 tons capacity and the cassava production facility and of funds for the construction in Maimbung, Sulu of several cold storage facilities.â€
Investigation showed that there were no documents to prove that said cash advances in the total amount of more than P41.3M were actually deposited in the account of the Muncipality of Maimbung, Sulu.
The Resolution stated that the said disbursement of public funds violates Sec. 174 (g) Volume 1 of the Government Accounting and Auditing Manual (GAAM) which reads: “No cash advance shall be granted on account of infrastructure or other undertakings on a project basis.â€
It was also alleged that several road-concrete paving projects for the said province were funded by the Dept. of Public Works and Highways Regional Office IX (DPWH-RO IX) without the conduct of public bidding. Records showed that the projects were awarded to BJ Construction and Material Supply, inc., “ a corporation owned and controlled by Benjamin Loongâ€.
It was further revealed that a Land Bank of the Phils. (LBP) Check in the amount of P4.9M issued by Loong in his capacity as provincial governor payable to the said construction company was encashed by Loong himself.
Acting Ombudsman Casimiro also ordered the conduct of further fact-finding investigation to determine the liability of other personalities involved in the said projects as well as other laws that may have been violated by the respondents.
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=88191.0