Almarinez Faces Ombudsman Case

The Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) has found enough evidence to recommend to the Office of the Ombudsman cases of corruption against Almarinez, who is now running as House representative of San Pedro City.

PACC is readying criminal case charges stemming from accusations of corruption during his term at the PITC.

Criminal, Administrative Raps

In a press conference held in Intramuros, Manila last April 8, PACC lawyers said the commission has found enough evidence to file charges of grave misconduct, unexplained wealth and serious dishonesty and simple neglect of duty against the former PITC head.

In addition, Almarinez faces criminal charges of violation of Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for public officials and employees and perjury under Article 183 of the Revised Penal Code.

Almarinez resigned from his post September 13, 2021 or days before the filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the May 9 national and local elections.

His resignation also came as he was accused by various sectors of corruption and underutilization of the funds deposited by government agencies at the PITC.

The PACC explained that since their task is to determine evidence for the removal of the appointee and Almarinez, having resigned in disgrace last September, the criminal case has been forwarded to the Ombudsman.

As to unexplained wealth amassed during his tenure at PITC, other agencies like the Anti Money-Laundering Council (AMLC) will take over in initiating forfeiture proceedings against assets accumulated due to the position.

Billions In ‘Parked’ Funds

It could be recalled that PITC under Almarinez served as the parking ground for P11.02 billion in unused funds of national and local government agencies, which earned commission and interests by putting them in trust accounts with the banks.

This anomalous practice led to short delivery, or no delivery, of promised supplies, machines, equipment and services of the agencies that parked their "excess funds" with PITC.

Atty. Larry Gadon, a senatorial candidate, has filed criminal charges against Almarinez for swindling (estafa) and malversation of public funds before the Office of the Ombudsman.

In his complaint, Gadon cited the Commission on Audit (COA) report of May 2, 2019 which revealed that the PITC entered into several memorandum of agreements (MOA) with at least 17 government agencies for the procurement of goods and services, including infrastructure projects.

These include the P11.02 billion funds transferred by various government agencies from 2014 to 2020 but remained unutilized as of December last year.

Under Almarinez, the PITC had been “remiss” in its job of handling billions of pesos intended for purchases by government agencies, and was remiss in its work, as the COA pointed out.

The COA has also discovered several "deficiencies" and flaws in the management of funds and purchasing operations of the PITC.

Questionable Transactions

The PITC, it was found, had several questionable transactions, as itemized below for the benefit of readers who wanted just a summary or a quick glance of how the agency is taking liberties with the people's money.

In its 2020 Annual Audit Report for the Philippine Air Force (PAF), the COA said that the PITC deprived the Air Force of “immediate use” of much-needed supplies and equipment despite paying the state-owned firm over P736.14 million in the past two to three years.

In the same report, this time for the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the COA disclosed that the PITC was unable to deliver “state-of-the-art” Clearance Processing System and other equipment despite the fact that the NBI has advanced P103.70 million to the procurement agency.

Based on the 2019 annual audit report for the Philippine National Police, it was noted that the PITC has failed to deliver firearms, police vehicles and other equipment worth P1.046 billion three years after the PNP transferred payment for its orders. Out of the P1.347 billion sent by PNP to the PITC, the latter was only able to deliver P311 million worth of ordered equipment.

The PITC promised — and failed — to handle the design and construction of a hospital for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases despite receiving more than P126 million for the project from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) two years before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The government's response to the pandemic would have been improved had this hospital was built.

Urgently needing agricultural machinery for sugar farmers, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) transferred some P206 million of its funds to the PITC to buy such machines. This purchase that was agreed upon by the two agencies did not materialize, and suffered various delays.

A persistent SRA and a Senate investigation led to an admission by Almarinez that the “PITC had invested monies held by it in trust for clients’ source agencies and national government agencies in money market placements.”

Desperate Tactics?

The news comes as Almarinez had been accused of using dirty tactics to bolster his chances of being elected as San Pedro City's first representative to Congress.

San Pedro is referred to as the lone district in the First District, after Santa Rosa was named a new congressional district. Biñan City, previously in the first district, had its own district starting in the 2016 polls.

Sources told OpinYon Laguna that Almarinez’s camp has resorted to bringing in audiences from other towns in Laguna and Cavite provinces to his campaign rallies in order to make it appear as if he had the wide support of San Pedronians.

However, survey results have shown a vastly different picture.

The recent “informal survey” conducted by OpinYon Laguna on its social media page have shown Almarinez lagging badly behind his “closest” rival, Laguna 1st District Board Member Ann Matibag.

As of April 9, Matibag has garnered 183 reactions on that informal poll compared to Almarinez’s 83 reactions.