MANILA, Aug. 7 — The Office of the Ombudsman (Ombudsman) has ordered the filing before the Sandiganbayan of charges against Jamaloden Faisal, Acting General Manager of the Tugaya Water District for allegedly misusing PHP10 million allocated for the 2011 construction of a water supply system in Tugaya, Lanao del Sur.
The Ombudsman ordered the filing of charges against Faisal for malversation of public funds and violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019, or the “Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act”.
Also included in the charge sheet is Alikahn Ebrahim of Nascon Builders.
Records showed that in January 2011, Faisal received PHP10,074,680 as part of the initial funding for the water supply improvement project. <p>During the fact-finding investigation conducted by the Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Unit (FIO) in Davao City, it was found that the water project was non-existent and that fake liquidation documents were submitted by respondents to support the ghost project.
A joint affidavit of inspection was also submitted by the team of probers from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) stating that “the reservoirs funded by LWUA are inexistent, based on the Development Map and Detailed Cost Estimate of the Project.”
A representative from Nascon Builders also attested that “the firm was not involved in the project.”
“The fact that the water supply improvement project is non-existent is sufficient proof to engender a well-founded belief that public funds were misappropriated for respondent Faisal’s own private use or benefit,” the Ombudsman said in its resolution.