Ombudsman affirms graft case vs. Garcia

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales denied the appeal of Cebu Rep. Gwen Garcia in connection with the P830 million graft case she is facing over the construction of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) project in 2006.

In an eight-page Joint Order, Morales argued that Garcia’s act of allowing contractor W.T. Construction, Inc. (WTI) to perform additional works without budget appropriation, contract and public bidding gave the contractor unwarranted benefits and caused undue injury to the government in the amount of P257,413,911.73.