The Supreme Court affirmed with finality the case involving the 2008 procurement of furniture for the Bacolod City Government Center worth P50 million.

According to the resolution, signed by Deputy Clerk of Court and Chief Judicial Records Officer Basilia Ringol, pertaining to the administrative case against Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia and eight City Hall employees, “The court resolves to deny the petition for failure to sufficiently show that the appellate court committed any reversible error in the challenged decision.”

Following a 2016 joint resolution by the Office of the Ombudsman which resulted in the dismissal of Leonardia and other named respondents in connection to an administrative case of grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty regarding the said furniture procurement, the Court of Appeals later reversed the decision and cleared the individuals involved.

Meanwhile, Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Secretariat head Melvin Recabar and Eduardo Ravena of the BAC-Technical Working Group were found guilty of simple misconduct instead of grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty./DGB, WDJ