G.R. No. 246114 , July 26, 2023
WILLIAM DADEZ NICOLAS, SR., PETITIONER, VS. TASK FORCE ABONO-FIELD INVESTIGATION OFFICE, RESPONDENT.

FACTS

The Department of Agriculture (DA) transferred PHP 23,000,000.00 to the Provincial Government of Isabela (LGU-Isabela) for the Farm Inputs and Farm Implements Program (FIFIP). Petitioner William Dadez Nicolas, Sr., then Provincial Treasurer of Isabela, certified cash availability for the purchase of six farm tractors and six trailing harrows (farm machineries) totaling PHP 12,468,000.00, as requested in an undated Purchase Request for the “Grains Highway Project of the Province of Isabela.” The Provincial Bids and Awards Committee certified that a public bidding was held on March 18, 2004, and awarded the contract to Equity Machineries, Inc. (EMI). Only eight units were delivered. Nicolas, as a member of the Provincial Inspectorate Team, signed an undated Certificate of Inspection, witnessed the Certificate of Acceptance, and certified cash availability in the Disbursement Voucher. LGU-Isabela paid EMI PHP 8,009,745.45 using FIFIP funds. The Commission on Audit later noted irregularities, including that the procured items were not among those listed under the FIFIP and appeared to have been distributed without purpose. The Task Force Abono-Field Investigation Office filed a complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman against Nicolas and others for dishonesty, grave misconduct, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, alleging the procurement was irregular, lacked proper public bidding, and involved the misuse of funds intended for the FIFIP for a different project. Nicolas defended his actions, stating he certified the availability of funds from savings after a fertilizer purchase, that the farm machineries still fell within the FIFIP’s purpose, and that his signatures were ministerial acts performed in good faith.

ISSUE

Whether the Office of the Ombudsman correctly found petitioner William Dadez Nicolas, Sr. administratively liable for dishonesty, grave misconduct, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the findings of the Office of the Ombudsman and the Court of Appeals. The procurement of the farm machineries was fraught with irregularities: the Purchase Request was for the “Isabela Grains Project,” not the FIFIP; the public bidding was allegedly held on March 18, 2004, but the Memorandum of Agreement for the FIFIP funds was notarized only on March 19, 2004, making the procurement premature; and the supporting documents were undated and unnumbered. The farm machineries procured were not included in the official list of items under the FIFIP. Nicolas’s act of certifying the availability of funds and signing the disbursement documents was not merely ministerial; as provincial treasurer, he had a duty to ensure the legality and propriety of the transaction. By certifying funds for a project different from the fund’s intended purpose (FIFIP) and participating in an irregular procurement process, Nicolas exhibited gross negligence and evident bad faith, constituting grave misconduct, dishonesty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service. The penalty imposed by the Ombudsman—dismissal with its accessory penalties, convertible to a fine equivalent to one year’s salary due to his retirement—was upheld. The Ombudsman retained jurisdiction over the case despite Nicolas’s subsequent retirement and election as a municipal councilor.