Two respondents in the case involving the purchase of alleged overpriced IT packages that were distributed to various public schools in Bacolod City have asked the Office of the Ombudsman for an extension of time to file their counter-affidavits.

The Ombudsman-Visayas had ordered Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella, Victoriano Tirol Jr. and Jessie Garcia last month to file their counter-affidavits and other controverting evidence, saying it had found enough basis to proceed with the criminal investigation of the complaint filed against them.

DepEd regional director Tirol and Garcia, president of Merryland Publishing Corp. had asked for a 30 days extension from Dec. 30, 2007 to Jan. 30, 2008 within which to file the required counter-affidavit.

Inocencio Ferrer, the legal counsel of Puentevella, however, said they will submit their counter-affidavit to the Ombudsman before the deadline on Tuesday. He said they did not ask for an extension since they had nothing to hide. He said the counter-affidavit will be signed by the solon on Friday.

Tirol and Garcia said they have received the Order on Dec. 20, 2007 .

In his motion dated Dec. 27, 2007, Tirol said he needs additional time within which to file the required counter-affidavit due to the volume of pending paper work in his office, as well as, other official function he needs to perform as DepEd regional director.

He said because there were many holidays recently and because the DepEd VI is now under repair, the records and documents involved in the case cannot be possibly retrieved and examined on time. Therefore, he said, the required counter-affidavit may not be finished and filed before its due date.

Garcia cited the lack of personnel of the law firm, G.P. Angeles and Associates that will prepare his counter-affidavit, because of the long holidays. He said he will submit his answer before Jan. 30.

Both said they filed the motion without intent of delaying the proceedings of the case or defeating the ends of justice.

The case was filed by City Legal Officer Allan Zamora against the respondents last year based on the result of the investigation and interview conducted by a team from the City Legal Office in the different public schools which showed that the IT package were overpriced.

The case was based on the complaint of broadcaster Donard Nojas who claimed that Puentevella had allocated and spent P10.4 million in 2002, P15.2 million in 2004, and P13.2 million in 2005 from his annual Priority Development Assistance Fund for the purchase of IT equipment for various public elementary and high schools in the city.*CGS

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