Court revives CHEd chief’s graft case
THE Court of Appeals (CA) has ordered the reinstatement of a graft case filed against Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) Chairwoman Patricia Licuanan in so far as the administrative aspect is concerned, reversing its initial decision declaring itself without jurisdiction to review the - man dropping graft charges.
In 2014, the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges, criminal and administrative complaint before the Ombudsman against Licuanan over an alleged anomalous deal with a private company involving the allocation of P10 million for the creation of a new accrediting agency.
“While we are happy that CA has ordered the reinstatement of the administrative aspect of Chairperson Licuanan’s graft case, we believe that she should also be made liable criminally. We are therefore asking the Supreme Court to reinstate not only the administrative aspect of Chairperson Licuanan’s graft case but also the criminal aspect, which we believe is very strong given the COA [Commission on Audit] report,” Atty. Joseph Noel Estrada, PAASCU’s legal counsel, told The ManilaTimes over the weekend.
On Wednesday (October 18), Lawyers Joseph Noel Estrada and Diana Tuazon assisted Paascu in the certiorari before the Supreme Court.
Estrada noted that the accrediting association, headed by Fr. Joel Tabora S.J.— also the president of Ateneo de Davao University and Coordinating Council of Private Educational As- sociations (Cocopea)—is determined to pursue the case against Licuanan including its criminal aspect.
a joint criminal and administrative complaint in 2014 against Licuanan Philippine Computer Society (PCS), for entering into a Memorandum of Agreement where CHEd allegedly allocated P10 million for the organization’s mobilization assistance. Based on the COA report, the selection of PCS by CHEd lacks competitiveness and transparency. Paascu alleged that the memorandum of agreement did not undergo bidding process, lacked transparency, and was grossly disadvantageous to the government, Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.