MANILA, Philippines – The Office of the Ombudsman has filed graft charges against 11 former Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) officials over the alleged anomalous award of a project in 2004.
The Ombudsman filed one count of graft before the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan against former officials Winston Garcia, president; Enriqueta Disuanco, executive vice president for operations; Benjamin Vivas Jr, senior vice president for information technology; and retired Supreme Court Justice Hermogenes Concepcion Jr, chairman of the board of trustees.
The others are former GSIS trustees Elmer Bautista, Fulgencio Factoran, Florino Ibañez, Aida Nocete, Reynaldo Palmiery, Elenita Tumala-Martinez, and Leonora Vasquez-de Jesus.
The Ombudsman said the former GSIS officials took “advantage of their official positions through manifest partiality or evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence” by awarding the GSIS eCard project to the Union Bank of the Philippines in May 2004, “without complying with the requirements/procedures” provided by law.
It said the former officials violated oSection 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The Ombudsman said they also violated Section 49 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act, when they awarded the project to Union Bank “despite the fact the closing date for submission of bid proposals has not been closed and prior to the recommendation of the Committee tasked to evaluate the proposals.”
The GSIS describes the eCard as "by far, the most innovative government-issued identification card today." It is not only a GSIS membership ID Card, but is also a GSIS transactional card, disbursement card, ATM Card, VISA debit card, hospitalization discount card, medicine discount card, and tuition discount card, among others. – Rappler.com