“But implementing the vessel monitoring system, or VMS, backfired amid accusations that it was tainted with corruption and overpricing.”
An archipelago like the Philippines has its hands full in scouring the seas surrounding it. The waters of the Pacific Ocean in the east, West Philippine Sea, and the Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea in the south are so vast and rich in marine resources that they pose an enormous challenge to monitor them.
The Philippines needs an effective technology to actively monitor the marine environment and ensure its long term sustainability and legal use.
For starters, the seas around the Philippines are a critical source of food. Each and every vessel roaming our waters has to be surveilled to discourage overfishing and protect the marine environment.
Tracking vessel ownership operators and their crew, for instance, will give fishing authorities a lead in their job and help in the preservation of aquatic environment dynamics. It will also determine if all players in the open seas are complying with international, regional and local regulations.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier had sensed the critical role of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in addressing the problems on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUUF) fishing.
As the DA chief last year, Mr. Marcos ordered to the Department of DA and BFAR to implement Fisheries Administrative Order (FAO) No. 266, which requires commercial fishing boats to install vessel monitoring devices that could track them and serve as the mechanism to report their catch.
But implementing the vessel monitoring system, or VMS, backfired amid accusations that it was tainted with corruption and overpricing.
Sure enough, the Office of the Ombudsman ordered the dismissal from service of BFAR National Director Demosthenes R. Escoto over his involvement in the allegedly anomalous awarding of a P2-billion contract for the VMS project in 2018.
In a 22-page decision written by Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer I Cezar M. Tirol II and approved by Ombudsman Samuel R. Martires, the anti-graft body found Escoto guilty of grave misconduct. Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. appointed career official Isidro Velayo Jr. as officer-in-charge of BFAR following the ruling.
The dismissal order on Escoto could lead to the cancellation of his civil service eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits, perpetual disqualification to hold public office and prohibition from taking civil service examinations.
If the dismissal cannot be executed due to separation from service, it will be converted into a fine equivalent to one year’s salary for the respondent. This fine is payable to the Ombudsman and may be deducted from the respondent’s retirement benefits, accrued leave credits, or any other receivables from his office.
The administrative case against Escoto originated from his actions as chairman of the BFAR’s Bids and Awards Committee. The Ombudsman ruled that there was “substantial evidence that Escoto committed grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.”
The anti-graft body said Escoto’s actions as BAC chair culminated in the award of a “very favorable contract” to United Kingdom-based SRT Marine Systems Solutions Ltd.
SRT-UK obtained the contract to supply technology and equipment for the Integrated Marine Environment Monitoring System Project Phase 1, also known as the PHILO Project.
The PHILO Project aimed to enhance marine resource protection and combat illegal fishing by instituting VMS for commercial vessels above 30 gross tons operating within the country’s exclusive economic zone, including procurement of transmitters and transceivers.
The project was initially set to be funded through a loan from the French government, with a contracted budget of P1.6 billion, requiring bidders to either be French or part of a joint venture with a French entity.
In 2017, SRT-France, a subsidiary of SRT-UK, was declared the winning bidder by the DA-BFAR. However, the French government later disqualified it due to its British ownership.
It turned out that SRT-France was only a month-old company with no manufacturing or engineering facilities in France, causing the collapse of the French loan agreement.
In the following 2018 bidding, SRT-UK won the contract, although the project’s budget increased to P2.09 billion, financed locally.
The Ombudsman said Escoto, while in the exercise of his official function as BAC chair, “clearly gave unwarranted benefit or advantage to SRT-France and SRT- UK.”
“Although the award of the contract to SRT-France was cancelled, the unwarranted benefit they gave to SRT-France to participate in the bid and to be post-qualified despite its ineligibility constitutes a willful violation of the law and established rule,” the Ombudsman said.
The Ombudsman noted that instead of procuring the originally planned 3,736 units of VMS transceivers, Escoto obligated the government to purchase 5,000 units.
“This is a contractual obligation that is grossly disadvantageous to the government and unreasonably beneficial to SRT-UK,” it said.
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