Biñan mayor charged with graft case

Mayor Hermis Carlo Perez of Biñan City, Laguna has been charged with graft before the Sandiganbayan Sixth Division in relation to the reportedly anomalous

solid waste management program of the local government.

Perez was accused of violating Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in the charge sheet filed by Assistant Special Prosecutor III Jorge B. Espinal and with the approval of both Ombudsman Samuel Martires and his predecessor, Conchita Carpio-Morales.

From Nov. 12, 2001 to Mar. 25, 2002, Perez was accused of acting with manifest partiality and evident bad faith when he awarded the contract for the solid waste management program of the municipality to Etsaw Consultancy and Con- struction of Environmental Technologies International Corporation of the Philippines (ECCE).

The ECCE, led by its President Victor Rojo, was also awarded the contract for the services for the project on Nov. 12, 2001 and agreement for the supply of Hydromex Technology-Related Equipment dated Mar. 25, 2002.

The contracts amounted to million. However, Espinal wrote in the charge sheet that the transaction had several irregularities, such as the absence of a bidding.

What’s more, Perez failed to conduct due diligence and background check on the financial qualification and technical capability of ECCE to undertake the project.

Perez’s bail bond has been set at

FAREWELL, MAYOR — The casket of Mayor Alexander O. Buquing of Sudipen, La Union is taken to the public cemetery in Barangay Castro, Sudipen for burial yesterday. The mayor who was slain last October 1 is survived by his wife, Vice Mayor-turned-Mayor Wendy Joy Buquing, and their children. (Erwin G. Beleo)