TWO former top officials of the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) posted bail for four counts of graft charges filed against them by the Office of the Ombudsman.
The charges stemmed from an allegedly anomalous P2-billion vessel monitoring system (VMS) project in 2018.
Former DA undersecretary for fisheries and BFAR National Director Eduardo B. Gongona and former BFAR national director Demosthenes R. Escoto each posted P360,000 before the Antipolo City Regional Trial Court (RTC) for their temporary liberty.
Their arraignment and pre-trial have been set for Jan. 22 and Feb. 26, respectively, the court said.
Gongona and Escoto have been charged with two counts of violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act (RA) 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, as well as one count each under Sections 3(g) and 3(j) of the same law, for their alleged involvement in the improper awarding of the VMS contract to a British firm.
Simon Tucker, CEO of UK-based SRT Marine Systems Solutions Ltd., was also named as a co-accused in the graft charges.
Gongona and Escoto posted bail on Jan. 6, a day after the Antipolo City RTC issued arrest warrants against them.
The cases were initially filed in the Quezon City RTC on Dec. 3 but were transferred to the Antipolo RTC due to jurisdictional adjustments.
The graft charges stemmed from a complaint filed by James Mier Victoriano against Gongona, Escoto, Tucker, former DA assistant secretary Hansel Didulo, and SRT-UK’s Chief Financial Officer Richard Hurd.
The complaint alleged violations of RA 3019 and the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184). However, the Ombudsman dismissed the charges against Didulo and Hurd for lack of evidence and found no violations of RA 9184 by any of the respondents.
Records show that the VMS project was initially given a budget of P1.6 billion under a French government loan and required bidders to either be French or part of a joint venture with a French entity.
SRT-France, a subsidiary of SRT-UK, won the bid in 2017 but was later disqualified by the French government due to its British ownership and lack of operational facilities in France. Consequently, the loan agreement collapsed.
In 2018, local funding raised the project budget to P2.09 billion, and SRT-UK was awarded the contract. By then, the project’s scope had expanded to include 5,000 VMS transceivers for commercial vessels and satellite service subscriptions, significantly increasing the government’s obligations.
In its Feb. 5, 2024, resolution, the Ombudsman ruled that Gongona, Escoto, and Tucker conspired to award the contract to SRT-UK in a manner disadvantageous to the government. The officials were found to have given unwarranted benefits to SRT-UK, violating Sections 3(e) and 3(j) of RA 3019.
“They orchestrated a series of questionable events that culminated in the award of a very favorable contract to SRT-UK,” the Ombudsman said.
Further, it noted that the government was compelled to procure 5,000 VMS transceivers instead of the initially planned 3,736, resulting in a grossly disadvantageous contract.
The project, which began on Dec. 4, 2018, was supposed to end on Dec. 4, 2021, and is now deemed expired.
The Ombudsman upheld its February 2024 ruling by denying the motions for reconsideration filed by the respondents in an order signed by Ombudsman Samuel Martires in October 2024.
Escoto has already been dismissed from government service by the Ombudsman after being found guilty of grave misconduct in relation to the same transaction.
He also faced contempt of court charges for implementing Fisheries Administrative Order (FAO) 266 despite a permanent injunction from the Malabon RTC.
FAO 266, which mandated a system to track commercial vessels at sea, was declared unconstitutional by the Malabon court.
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