Agri officials dismissed by Ombudsman for graft, misconduct

The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the dismissal from service of Department of Agriculture assistant secretary Kristine Evangelista in relation to a dubious deal with an onion supplier that led to a spike in the commodity last year.
 
The Ombudsman found Evangelista and John Gabriel Benedict Trinidad III, vice president for operations of Food Terminal Incorporated, guilty of conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and dismissed for grave misconduct and negligence of duty, respectively.
 
Moreover, the Ombudsman found probable cause to indict Evangelista, Trinidad and several others for breaching the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019), and for "falsification by private individuals and use of falsified documents (Article 172 of the Revised Penal Code)."
 
The criminal and administrative charges against DA senior undersecretary Domingo Panganiban, chief accountant officer-in-charge Lolita Jamela, administrative officer V Eunice Biblanias and budget division head Juanita Lualhati, however, were dropped due to lack of probable cause and insufficiency of evidence.
 
Likewise, the Ombudsman ordered the dismissal of both criminal and administrative charges against FTI president Robert Tan to stand as a witness of the prosecution.
 
Back in August, the Ombudsman placed Evangelista, Trinidad and several others, except for Panganiban and Tan, under preventive suspension in connection with the onion supply shortage in the Philippine markets, price manipulation and the dubious procurement of onions by FTI from Bonena Multi-Purpose Cooperative.
 
The Ombudsman's records showed that the DA entered into a memorandum of agreement with FTI for the Food Mobilization or Kadiwa Food Hub project.
 
FTI, on the other hand, entered into a letter of agreement with Bonena for the delivery of 8,845 bags (approximately 28 kilograms/bag) of onions as part of the said Kadiwa Food Hub.
 
They were accused of violating RA 3019 and the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184) due to the lack of parameters in the selection of a cooperative that will supply and deliver the onions; questionable advance payment of 50 percent of the contract price; non-compliance of the MoA; partial implementation of the contract; and doubtful deliveries by Bonena.
 
During the last quarter of 2022, the country experienced an agricultural shortage, primarily in onions, the prices of which soared to as high as P500 to P700 per kilo.
 
Citing the evidence, Ombudsman Samuel Martires said "it seems like the prices of onions were manipulated."
 
"It seems like there was no bidding. We obtained CCTV footage from FTI showing what looks like a single person bringing three envelopes to the senior vice president," he said.