The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the dismissal from service of former Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) director general Jeremiah B. Belgica and four other officials after finding them guilty of grave misconduct in connection with the grant of telecommunication frequencies to NOW Telecom Company Inc.
In a 14-page decision prepared by a four-member special panel and approved by Ombudsman Samuel R. Martires, the anti-graft body declared Belgica, his former deputy Eduardo V. Bringas, division chief Sheryl N. Pura-Sumangil, and directors Jedrek Ng and Melamy A. Salvadora-Asperin guilty of grave misconduct.
The order carries the accessory penalties of cancellation of civil service eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits, and perpetual disqualification to hold public office.
If the penalty can no longer be enforced due to separation from the service, the same shall be converted into a fine in the amount equivalent to the respondents’ salary for one year, payable to the Office of the Ombudsman, and may be deductible from their retirement benefits, accrued leave credits or any receivables by respondents from their office.
The case against Belgica and company stemmed from a complaint filed by DITO Telecommunity Inc., which accused the respondents of giving preferential treatment to NOW Telecom.
The preferential treatment was evidenced by ARTA’s March 1, 2021, Resolution and Order of Automatic Approval (OAA) assigning contingent frequencies to NOW Telecom, which came after the government awarded the same frequencies to DITO as the country’s new telco major player.
In its dismissal order, the Ombudsman cited the respondents’ “clear intent to violate the law” when they issued the assailed ARTA Resolution and OAA despite being aware beforehand of the status of NOW Telecom with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
NTC records show that as early as December 2005, Now Telecom was already found to be non-compliant and was disqualified from the assignment of 3G frequency bands due to unpaid supervision and regulation fees (SRF) and spectrum user fees (SUF) amounting to P2.6 billion.
In January 2006, NOW Telecom was issued a provisional authority (PA) that was not specific to 3G and was premised on the condition on the payment of its outstanding SRF and SUF obligations. At that time, the issue on the outstanding SRF and SUF was already pending with the Supreme Court.
In December 2017, NOW Telecom was assigned the 20MHz contiguous bandwidth, 3520 to 3540 MHz, under the 3.5 GHz on the same condition that it settle its outstanding SUF and SRF.
NOW Telecom’s PA was extended for 36 months until September 2020 subject again to the condition regarding the SUF and SRF, but this was never fulfilled by the company.
Despite being informed of these circumstances, respondents still issued the assailed ARTA resolution and OAA, a move the Ombudsman regarded as an “obvious favoritism” to NOW Telecom.
Worse, the respondents later issued an Omnibus Order and Minute Resolution affirming its earlier resolution and OAA despite separate rulings by the Secretary of the Department of Justice and the Office of the President against ARTA’s directives pertaining to the assignment of frequency to NOW Telecom.
“Respondents’ clear intent to violate the law and flagrant disregard of established rules were also obvious with the issuance of the Omnibus Order and the Minute Resolution,” the Ombudsman stated in its decision.
“These circumstances show respondents’ capriciousness and arbitrariness in the issuance of the 01 March 2021 ARTA Resolution, OAA, Omnibus Order and Minute Resolution. It was issued whimsically with conscious and deliberate intent to do injustice, hence, constitutive of Grave Misconduct. Their actions violate the norm of public accountability and diminish the people’s faith in public service,” the anti-graft body said.