Army officers, arms supplier acquitted of graft charge

From Malaya Business Insight (May 8): Army officers, arms supplier acquitted of graft charge

AFTER 14 years of legal battles, two Philippine Army officers and a private arms supplier/contractor for the military were able to clear their names of alleged involvement in an anomalous P1.5 million firearms procurement deal in 1997.

The Sandiganbayan Second Division acquitted Major Jose L. Barao, Capt. Henry G. Valeroso, and private defendant Victorino R. Floro of a graft charge filed against them way back in 2004 concerning alleged unwarranted advantage given to Floro International Corp.

A fourth accused, former Philippine Army Col. Artemio C. Cacal, died before the trial was concluded, resulting in the dismissal of charges against him.

Prosecutors claimed Floro International Corp. was paid in full for delivering 75 units of cal. 9mm MK9 sub-machine guns even if the firearms were not accompanied by Reports of Test and Evaluation to ensure that they complied with standards and specifications required by the Philippine military.

Investigators said the guns later turned out to be “defective and unacceptable” but the payment had already been released to the supplier.

In its 28-page decision dated April 27, 2018, the anti-graft court said the prosecution failed to prove undue injury to the government which is a key element of the graft charge.

Even as it acknowledged the existence of proof that Barao and Valeroso prematurely signed the Technical Inspection and Acceptance Report despite conducting only a physical count of the number of firearms, the Sandiganbayan held that this is insufficient to warrant a guilty verdict.

“The accused public officers undeniably exhibited manifest partiality, evident bad faith, or gross inexcusable negligence. (However), to successfully hurdle the task of establishing undue injury, the existence of actual prejudice or damage must be established. This the prosecution failed to do,” the Sandiganbayan said.

It noted that the supplier readily accepted return of the firearms for refitting to correct performance issues, fitted them with heavier buffer assemblies, redelivered them back to the military, and added another 10 units of the same gun without additional charges to the Armed Forces.

http://www.malaya.com.ph/business-news/news/army-officers-arms-supplier-acquitted-graft-charge