Faelnar, 6 others plead not guilty to graft case

Former Guadalupe barangay Captain Eugenio “Jing Jing” Faelnar (standing, r ight) confers with his lawyer Atty. Julius Ceasar Entice before the arraingment of his graft case for alleged misuse of about P6.5 million in pork barrel funds in the sala of RTC Judge Estela Singco.
(CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Former Guadalupe barangay captain Eugenio “Jingjing” Faelnar and six others yesterday pleaded not guilty to graft charges over the  alleged misuse of about P6.5 million in pork barrel funds.

Faelnar, along with former Guadalupe councilors Ruben Baculi, David Suzara, Alex Semilla, Robert Gabutan, and Rodrigo Gabutan, as well as former Sangguniang Kabataan representative Jacqueline Du-Imboy denied the charges lodged against them during their arraignment before Judge Estela Alma Singco of the Regional Trial Court Branch 12.

They earlier all posted bail for their temporary liberty.

The pre-trial conference of the case is set on April 23, 2015.

Faelnar’s lawyer Julius Ceasar Entise said his  client has nothing to do with the anomaly.

“We strongly insist on the innocence of my client. Based on my review of the case, the law  on the Government Procurement Act  was relatively new at that time and there is likelihood that a mistake can be committed.  May client  has no participation whatsoever other than the purchase and the shopping which we are confident  we can justify,” Entise said.

The seven were indicted by the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas for buying lanzones, mango, durian and rambutan seedlings worth P6.2 million as well as P245,000 worth of pipes and garden hoses in 2006 and 2007 without a  competitive bidding,  a blatant violation of the law.

They got the money from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of former Rep. Antonio Cuenco of Cebu City’s south district.

Faelnar, Suzara, Semilla, and the two Gabutans were charged with three counts of violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, particularly on “giving unwarranted benefits and advantage” to WM Sprout Center and Win Marketing.
Du-imboy was charged with two counts of graft while Baculi was indicted for one case.

Based on case records,  the mandatory procurement stages or procedures were not complied with.

The ‘public bidding’ was considered  a mere pretense.

All seven  accused were found to have given unwarranted preference to WM Sprout Center and Win Marketing.

The Ombudsman also cited their  failure to publish the procurement in a newspaper or post it on the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) as mandated under the law.

“With these numerous red flags or badges of fraud, all that the respondents did was to claim good faith. They even issued a Certification claiming that they allegedly conducted the ‘public bidding; for the procurement of the seedlings,” said graft investigation and prosecution officer Jerry Patcho in his ruling.