BFAR dismisses director found guilty of grave misconduct

MANILA, Philippines – Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. appointed on Wednesday, April 17, Isidro Velayo Jr. as officer-in-charge of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), replacing Demosthenes Escoto, whom the Office of the Ombudsman ordered dismissed after he was found guilty of grave misconduct.

In a 22-page decision dated February 5, 2024, the Ombudsman found Escoto guilty of “grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of service.”

The decision stemmed from a 2022 complaint on the “alleged irregularities attending the procurement of transmitters and transceivers for the DA-BFAR’s Integrated Marine Environment Monitoring System Project Phase II (PHILO project).”

BFAR’s PHILO project is on the implementation of the vessel monitoring system (VMS). This system requires transmitters and transceivers that will monitor the location, position, and activity of commercial fishing vessels at sea. VMS is the country’s effort to curb illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.

In 2015, the Philippine government received a loan worth €28,520,000 from France to finance the PHILO project. But the loan has a condition: products should be sourced from French suppliers.

Who won the bidding for transmitters in 2017? SRT-France, a subsidiary of SRT-United Kingdom. The French embassy declared SRT-France unqualified because it has no manufacturing, engineering facilities, or recorded activities in France.

After it did not satisfy the condition of the French government, BFAR sought the cancellation of the loan. BFAR then requested the change of funding source from foreign-assisted loan to local funding. This was approved, and the Department of Budget and Management allotted P2.09 billion for the PHILO project.

In 2018, BFAR procured 5,000 units of transceivers worth P2.09 billion. This time, without the condition to only source from French suppliers, SRT-United Kingdom bid and won the contract.

A statement from the Department of Agriculture said the Ombudsman found Escoto “guilty of grave misconduct in a graft case arising from BFAR procurement of communications equipment in 2018.”

Escoto was one of the respondents in a graft complaint filed in 2022 over the procurement of P2.09 billion-worth of transceivers from a British company for the implementation of the vessel monitoring system.

At that time, Escoto was the chairman of the bids and awards committee of BFAR. Among the respondents was former director Eduardo Gongona.

The 2022 complaint said that respondents caused the loss of foreign financial assistant from the French government, paid P722.639 million to SRT-United Kingdom without complete documents, and purchased an excessive number of transceivers.

“His actions as Chairman of the BAC culminated in the award of a very favorable contract to SRT-UK,” the decision read.

Escoto and Hansel Didulo, former DA assistant secretary, denied the allegations. The respondents claimed that SRT-France was eligible to bid because it is registered in France. They also said that changing the funding source was beneficial to the government because it was freed from paying interests.

Citing the 2017 Philippine Fisheries Profile, respondents said 5,000 units transceivers is not excessive, as there are 6,901 commercial catcher and carrier vessels recorded in 2016.

Escoto’s last public appearance before his dismissal was in Subic, Zambales, on Tuesday, April 16, when the government awarded livelihood inputs to around a hundred fisherfolk and turned over fiber-reinforced plastic vessels to fisherfolk associations.

Escoto joined BFAR as part of its legal team, worked up the ranks, until in 2023, he was appointed as national director.

Meanwhile, Laurel described the new OIC as “a career professional and respected official of BFAR.” The agriculture chief said he had ordered Velayo “to ensure that operations of the agency will not be affected by this legal development.”