Ex-La Union water district exec faces 200 raps

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union - A former official of the water district of La Union and a consultant of a private company are facing at least 200 criminal cases before the Sandiganbayan in connection with an alleged anomalous construction deal.

Felipe Picazo, former general manager of Metro La Union Water District (MLUWD), and Conrado Ganaden, consultant of Condor Construction Corp., were recently indicted and ordered to post bail of P39.66 million each.

They were charged with violation of Sections 3 (e) and 3 (g) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act over a contract MLUWD entered with Condor amounting to P24,475,300 in 1998 without public bidding.

Section 3 (e) of RA 3019 prohibits public officials from giving unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference to any party or from causing any party, including the government, undue injury.

Section 3 (g) bars public officials from entering into a contract or transaction disadvantageous to the government.

Picazo and Ganaden were also charged with 198 counts of malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents.

They were accused of falsifying liquidation documents, including price quotations, sales invoices and purchase orders, to make it appear that P11.3 million was paid to five suppliers from January 1999 to September 2000 for materials supposedly used for the construction project.

The ombudsman said Picaso and Ganaden “took or misappropriated the amounts for their personal advantage and benefit.”