GR 147333; (August, 2004) (Digest)
G.R. No. 147333 ; August 12, 2004
ROSALIA M. DUGAYON, petitioner, vs. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondent.
FACTS
Petitioner Rosalia Dugayon, as Assistant Regional Director and Chairman of the Procurement Board of the DSWD Region 2, facilitated the procurement of 19 typewriters. The Board conducted a bidding, awarded the contract to San Sebastian Marketing represented by Jessie Callangan, and subsequently inspected and accepted the delivered units, certifying they conformed to the purchase order’s specifications. Payment was then made. However, a post-audit by the Commission on Audit (COA) revealed the typewriters were not brand new but merely rebuilt and reconditioned, contrary to the procurement intent. The COA disallowed the payment. Dugayon, Callangan, and others were charged with violating Section 3(e) of R.A. No. 3019 for causing undue injury to the government through evident bad faith by purchasing second-hand items as new.
ISSUE
Whether petitioner Rosalia Dugayon is guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violating Section 3(e) of R.A. No. 3019 .
RULING
No. The Supreme Court acquitted Dugayon. The prosecution failed to prove the element of “evident bad faith” beyond reasonable doubt. Bad faith, under the law, implies a manifest deliberate intent to do wrong or a conscious violation of a duty due to malice or ill will. The evidence showed that Dugayon, as Board Chairman, relied on the Inspection and Acceptance Committee’s report, which certified the deliveries as conforming to specifications. There was no proof she had prior knowledge the units were not brand new or that she conspired with the supplier to defraud the government. Her actions were performed in the regular course of official functions. The Court emphasized that bad faith must be proven as a fact and cannot be presumed from mere procedural lapses in the bidding process, which were not shown to be attended by a dishonest purpose. Without conclusive evidence of a corrupt motive or deliberate intent to injure the government, criminal liability under the Anti-Graft Law does not attach.