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By Jefferson Antiporda, Reporter
A ranking official of the
Department of Education is now being investigated by the Office of
the Ombudsman for alleged “technical malversation” involving a
P25-million fund allotted for the purchase of a lot for a new
schoolbuilding in Batangas City.
Ombudsman director Marlyn
Galvez issued a letter to DepEd Undersecretary Ramon Bacani
regarding the complaint filed against him for failure to implement
two DepEd resolutions effecting the acquisition of a piece of real
estate for the Balagtas Elementary School in Batangas City.
The school is due to be
demolished by the Department of Public Works and Highways to give
way to the construction of the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road and
Access Road to Batangas Port which was started in 2003.
The DPWH bought the property
where the school facility is presently located and paid DepEd the
sum of P25.4 million for the purchase of another lot where the
school can be transferred.
Almost two years have passed
since the project was turned over but the DepEd has yet to build the
new classrooms for its more than 1,000 students.
A document obtained from the
Ombudsman pointed to Bacani as the one who refused to honor two
resolutions—the first one signed by former DepEd Secretary
Edilberto de Jesus and the latest signed by four members of the bids
and awards committee—granting the project to the winning bidder in
2003.
Bacani, in rejecting the
commendation of his members from the bids and awards committee,
allegedly entertained a proposal from Mayor Eduardo Dimacuha of
Batangas City to transfer the P25.4 million to Batangas City.
The letter from the Ombudsman
director Galvez to Bacani is dated March 21, 2007, where the former
requested for the undersecretary’s comments or appropriate action
pursuant to the provisions of R.A. 6713.
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