THE Sandiganbayan has found guilty of graft five former officials of the then-Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).
The anti-graft court sentenced the five to up to 10 years imprisonment. They were:
former DOTC director Elmer Soneja
former DOTC director Venancio Santidad
former DOTC director Ildefonso Patdu Jr.
former DOTC director Rebecca Cacatian
former DOTC legal officer Geronimo Quintos
A private citizen, businessman Domingo Samuel Jonathan Ng, was also found guilty by the Sandiganbayan.
Aside from imprisonment, the convicted individuals were also barred from holding any government position.
The five former DOTC officials were members of Bids and Awards Committee that approved the questionable procurement of P6 million worth of cellphones in 2005.
According to the Sandiganbayan, the contract for the procurement was given to Ng’s company even without the conduct of a public bidding. The Commission on Audit (COA) also discovered that Ng’s company was not an authorized dealer of cellphones, as reported on Unang Balita.
