FORMER Muntinlupa mayor Aldrin San Pedro and private contractor Angel Palmiery have been acquitted by the Sandiganbayan of graft in connection with the city’s P97M procurement of three fire trucks and an aerial ladder truck in 2008 to 2009.
The anti-graft court’s Second Division said there was no evidence that San Pedro had given unwarranted benefits and advantage to Palmer Asia Inc., of which Palmiery was the General Manager, in the procurement.
The prosecution had said that San Pedro, after approving the purchase orders and resolution recommending Palmer Asia as the lowest bidder, authorized the payment to it in several tranches in 2008 to 2009.
It alleged that the trucks were not delivered immediately to the city government, and Palmer Asia was allowed to register these under its name and to mortgage these to two banks.
The firetrucks were registered under the name of the Muntinlupa City government only on July 16, 2012, while the aerial ladder truck was only registered on November 25, 2014. This led the city government to incur interest on its withdrawn loan while being deprived of the use of the procured vehicles, it alleged.
But in its March 1 decision, the Sandiganbayan said the evidence on record failed to establish the existence of bad faith, manifest partiality or gross inexcusable negligence on the part of the accused beyond reasonable doubt.
It said there was no evidence that San Pedro had any malicious or fraudulent intent in signing the disbursement vouchers for the payment to Palmer Asia.
It was also unconvinced by the testimony of Internal Auditor Abel Sumabat that San Pedro directed him to meet with Palmer Asia officials, and that he was instructed to prepare antedated bidding documents and collect kickbacks from suppliers.
This was not supported by evidence, and “remain unsubstantiated and have no leg to stand on,” it said.
It also pointed out that before San Pedro approved the purchase order and resolution of the Bids and Awards Committee, these had undergone various layers of review by his subordinates.
His reliance on this findings could not be considered fraudulent and corrupt design, especially without evidence showing that he acted with manifest partiality, it said.
The allegations of a “paper bidding” with Palmer Asia as the pre-determined winner were also not supported by any other evidence, it said.
“Simply, the record is bereft of evidence to show that it was accused San Pedro himself who selected Palmer Asia to the exclusion of all others,” it said.
It was the BAC, headed by Sumabat, which selected Palmer Asia, it noted.
The Sandiganbayan said it was aware of a Special Audit Report that found lapses in the bidding procedure, but it said that San Pedro and Palmiery were not members of the BAC that awarded the contract to Palmer Asia.
San Pedro’s actions were in line with his duties as mayor, it added.
It also said Palmiery was able to explain why the payments were made in tranches similar to that of a progress billing. This was because the trucks were custom-made, and the city inspected the progress of the vehicles before the payments were released.
The Sandiganbayan further said that the prosecution failed to prove that there was undue injury to the government, as the firetrucks were delivered on time, and it was only after this that the supplier was fully paid.
