The Sandiganbayan has sentenced a former Intramuros Administration chief to a jail term of six years and one day to 10 years for graft over illegal structures, the Office of the Ombudsman affirmed Thursday.
The anti-graft court found former IA Administrator Dominador Ferrer Jr. guilty of violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and was perpetually disqualified from government service.
In August 1998, Ferrer allowed the Offshore Construction and Development Co., a lessee, to construct new structures inside Intramuros without any building permit or clearance from the city of Manila as required under the Intramuros Charter or the Presidential Decree 1616, and the National Building Code.
“As Executive Officer of the Intramuros Administration, [Ferrer’s] bounded duty was to ensure the maintenance and upkeep of the Walls, including the ravelins and other public areas within the Intramuros, and to take the lead in enforcing the regulations, standards and guidelines governing land use and development within the Administration’s area of jurisdiction,” the Sandiganbayan ruled.
Section 3(e) of RA No. 3019 prohibits a public officer from causing any undue injury to any party, including the government, or giving any private party unwarranted benefits, advantage, or preference in the discharge of official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith, or gross inexcusable negligence.
The court’s Second Division held Ferrer liable for Offshore Construction’s activities at the Spanish-built structures Baluarte de San Andres and Baluarte de San Francisco de Dilao, as well as the Ravellin de Recollectos.
“At the very least, [Ferrer] had exhibited gross inexcusable negligence in allowing the lessee to develop and construct on the leased premises, even as their compliance with requirements remained deficient, and with knowledge that such was in contravention of his duties under the Intramuros Charter,” the anti-graft court said in a 27-page decision dated May 11.
The Sandiganbayan said OCDC was not among the leaseholders on the list of recipients of building permits from 1997 to 1998.
The court added OCDC’s applications were only filed on Oct. 13, 1998 and granted two days later.
Ferrer earlier said that the company had secured development clearances for the three areas it leased.
Citing the testimony of Cultural Properties Conservation Division head Augusto Rustia, the anti-graft court said construction at the Baluarte de San Andres was already 75-percent complete at the time.
Similarly, the anti-graft court said Ferrer wrote a letter to IOCDC president Amado Cruz on Aug. 19, 1998, giving the company a permit to start the construction projects although the lease agreement was only executed the day after, or on Aug. 20, 1998.
The court also faulted Ferrer for going ahead with the projects despite being informed of OCDC’s violations as early as September 1998.
Rustia and inspection committee member Anna Maria Harper testified that anchored beams, steel matting and nails had been bored through the historic walls. IA consultant Esmeralda Gatbonton added that concrete planters and a mezzanine had been placed atop the walls.
The case had been pending in the court since Jan. 29, 2001.