EMERGENCY procurement of food items need not go through a public bidding during a calamity when the distribution of relief goods to disaster-stricken residents is of paramount importance.
This was the pronouncement of the Sandiganbayan in reversing the May 2, 2024 decision of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 25 convicting officials of Barangay 598, Zone 59 of the city’s sixth district.
Acquitted on appeal were barangay chairman Paulito Linis, and former barangay kagawad Benjamin Chua and Lutgarda Bautista.
They were previously found guilty of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) and sentenced to imprisonment for six to ten years for the procurement of 120 sacks of rice worth P307,899 on October 13, 2011 without holding a competitive public bidding.
But in its 33-page ruling dated July 18, 2025, the Sandiganbayan fifth division ruled that the defendants are innocent of the offense charged.
“The records, the law, and jurisprudence do not support the judgment of conviction against the accused-appellants,” the anti-graft court declared.
Contrary to the findings of the RTC that the barangay officials acted with manifest partiality and evident bad faith when they purchased the grains through negotiated procurement, the Sandiganbayan pointed out that the existence of an emergency is a valid excuse for doing away with a public bidding among potential suppliers.
It noted that even the City Council of Manila passed Resolution No. 272, s. 2011, declaring the existence of a state of calamity after heavy rainfall brought by Typhoon Pedring caused floods in Metro Manila.
