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Ombudsman scores victory vs Ex-PNP official
22 May 2012

The Office of the Ombudsman scored another victory after the Sandiganbayan sentenced a former regional director of the Philippine National Police-Eastern Visayas for overcharging funds spent on a building construction in 2001.

Police Chief Supt. Dionisio Coloma was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act). He was sentenced to suffer the penalty of imprisonment for 6 years and one day to ten years and perpetual disqualification to hold public office.

In a 44-page decision, penned by Associate Justice Alex Quiroz, the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division found Coloma had overpriced the construction of a Regional Training Site (RTS) in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, causing undue injury to the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC), a state college in the province.

Concurring with the decision were Presiding Justice Francisco Villaruz, Jr. and Associate Justice Samuel Martires.

Records of the case showed that the officer tagged the building at P5.7 million, when it was only P3.1 million that resulted in a P2.5 million overcharge.

Coloma claimed he did not have any participation in the anomalous construction of the training facilities.

However, according to the documents gathered from the PPSC, Coloma signed the project as an overseer. It was also discovered that Coloma in October 2001 made it appear that the building was nearly done.

But Senior Police Officer 4 Gilbert Concepcion found out in June 2002 that the barracks part of the RTS was not yet completed.

In its ruling, the Court held that the Office of the Special Prosecutor was able to prove that Coloma “acted with evident bad faith in his transactions concerning RTS 9.”

Although the accused (Coloma) may be correct that nowhere in his report did he manifest that the construction of RTS 9 had already been completed, the Court said, “the testimonies of SPO4 Concepcion and Engineer Vacnot yield that upon inspection in June 2002, not even a trace of any excavation for the foundation of the 50 capacity barracks was seen at the training site, contrary to Coloma’s claim that construction thereof had just started.”

“By making himself a signatory to the current accounts and presenting a cost estimate significantly higher than that submitted by Engineer Vacnot, the accused also caused undue injury to the PPSC when the latter lost control of the funds for RTS 9, and only the authorized signatories could enter into transactions with regard to the project,” the Court ruling added.

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