The Sandiganbayan has found Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Cavite provincial director Felicidad Zurbano guilty of 13 counts of graft for violation of Section 3(h) of Republic Act No. 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act).
Zurbano was sentenced to a jail term of six to 12 years for each count. She was also meted the accessory penalty of disqualification from holding any public office.
Prosecutors from the Office of the Ombudsman were able to show that in 13 separate instances in 2003, Zurbano intervened in her official capacity in the award of supply of materials to CDZ Enterprises, a business owned by her sister. Zurbano rigged the procurement process by making sure that CDZ would be able to submit the lowest price quotations by keeping a blank canvass form and waiting for the two other supposed bidders to submit their quotations first so that the favored supplier could come up with the lowest price quotations.
In the 46-page Decision written by Justice Teresita Diaz-Baldos, the Sandiganbayan said that “the bidding process was but a sham since the other participating suppliers had no chance of securing the lowest bid. While it may be argued that the government may have saved a huge amount of money with the grant of the contract to CDZ Enterprises, it did not in any way cure the ills sought to be prevented by R.A. No. 3019, particularly Section 3(h) thereof.”
The court held that “after an incisive scrutiny of the facts and evidence, the prosecution was able to discharge its duty to establish the guilty of the accused beyond reasonable doubt.”
Under Section 3(h) of RA 3019, it is unlawful for public officials to directly or indirectly have financial or pecuniary interest in any business, contract or transaction in connection with which he or she intervenes or takes part in his or her official capacity, or in which the public official is prohibited by the Constitution or by any law from having any interest. ###