Ombudsman upholds dismissal of ex-BFAR director Escoto

The Office of the Ombudsman has affirmed its February 2024 order to dismiss former Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) director Demosthenes Escoto for grave misconduct.

In an 8-page joint order, the Ombudsman denied Escoto’s motion to reconsider the resolution indicting him and two others for violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, as well as the decision finding him guilty of grave misconduct and ordering his dismissal from service.

This was in connection to the BFAR’s P2.1 billion vessel monitoring system contract in 2018, based on a Super Radyo dzBB report of Allan Gatus.

The Ombudsman's decision on Escoto's case indicated that he, while in the exercise of his official function as chairman of the BAC, “clearly gave unwarranted benefit or advantage to SRT-France and SRTUK.”

In his motion, the ex-BFAR official said that there was failure to establish conspiracy between him and his co-respondents, and that the evidence does not support a finding of probable cause against him.

The Ombudsman, in spite of this, maintained that Escoto's probable guilt and administrative liability had been established with his participation in the supposed scheme.

“His actions, minute or substantial, were all instrumental in the success of the anomalous scheme that led to the award of the contract to SRT-UK. And no amount of failure on the part of the complainant to include other individuals in the charge could undermine that,” the joint order read.

The Ombudsman also upheld that along Escoto’s dismissal was the cancellation of eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits, and perpetual disqualification for re-employment in the government service.

Following his dismissal, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. in April appointed career official Isidro Velayo Jr. as officer-in-charge of BFAR. — Giselle Ombay/RSJ, GMA Integrated News