Tabuk City mayor Darwin Estrañero walked free from graft charges after the Sandiganbayan granted the Ombudsman's bid to drop the case it filed against the local chief executive in relation to the alleged overpriced purchase of medical equipment at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The prosecution appealed to the Sandiganbayan to withdraw the criminal raps against Estrañero, citing the Ombudsman's decision dismissing the same against the mayor.
Estrañero was charged with violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) for buying various medical items, including alcohol, nebulizers, oxygen cylinders, thermal scanners, and personal protective equipment, from several suppliers in May 2020.
Investigators found that the thermal scanners were bought for P12,000 each but only had a price ceiling of P3,400 for each unit.
Court records showed that Estrañero paid P1,200,000 instead of P340,000 and that the medical supplies were overpriced by 353 percent.
The Ombudsman said Estrañero pursued the transaction despite being "grossly and manifestly disadvantageous to the government."
In early April, the Ombudsman dropped the lawsuit in favor of Estrañero and set aside its previous verdict recommending the filing of a case before the Sandiganbayan after it found that the overpricing allegations on the procured medical supplies and devices "was not adequately established."
The Sandiganbayan, meanwhile, agreed to the prosecution's plea to discontinue pursuing the case.
The anti-graft court anchored its decision in a Supreme Court ruling, which stipulated that in assessing whether there was indeed overpricing, a specific comparison with items of the same brand, features, and specifications as those of the items subject to the questioned transactions must be made.
"It appears that the conclusion that the subject items were grossly overpriced is based solely on the difference between the contract prices and the price ceilings for similar items set in Annex 1 14 of Department of Health Department Memorandum No. 2020-0144 dated March 30, 2020," said the Sandiganbayan Sixth Division.
"Thus, such evidence is insufficient, and the withdrawal of the information [by the prosecution] is warranted," the court added.
Estrañero is now back in office following a six-month suspension by the Ombudsman on 29 September.
