THE Office of the Ombudsman has found probable cause for the filing of graft charges against former Southern Leyte governor Rosette Y. Lerias and five members of the Provincial Government Bids and Award Committee (PGBAC) over the purchase of more than P2-million worth of fertilizers in 2006. The PGBAC members are Virginia Cruz, Catalino Olayvar, Teopisto Rojas, Jr., Fernando Moralde and Joseph Duarte. The Ombudsman, in a statement released yesterday, said the case stems from a direct contracting deal with the Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Corp. (PhilPhos), which the respondents claim was covered by a memorandum of agreement (MoA). During the investigation, however, the Office of the Provincial Accountant certified that “there is no record of an existing MoA between the province and PhilPhos.” The Ombudsman investigators also found that “none of the conditions justified the Direct Contracting of fertilizers.”

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