‘Villagomez gave instructions to buy Rydlyme’

Acting Power Division manager Gary P. Camacho testified yesterday that Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez, in his capacity then as executive director of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., instructed him to process the purchase orders for a chemical called Rydlyme.

During questioning by assistant U.S. attorney Eric O’Malley, Camacho recognized documents shown him as those pertaining to several purchases and subsequent CUC checks as payments to ISLA Micronesia Sales.

Missing in the documents, however, Camacho said, are the requests from the power plant’s Power Generation Division on Saipan as well as from CUC Rota and Tinian.

Camacho, who is also the acting CUC public information officer and a former purchasing supervisor for CUC’s procurement section, testified that any purchases under $50,000 is considered small purchases, while those above $50,000 are considered big, requiring a contract.

All purchases should have requests from the divisions, being the end users, he said.

He related that between 1998 to 2000, he was familiar with the four to five CUC transactions to purchase Rydlyme.

Shown a handwritten note by O’Malley, Camacho said it pertains to the first purchase of 375 gallons of Rydlyme, where Villagomez gave instructions for Camacho to prepare the purchase order for the product.

At the time, Camacho was the purchasing supervisor.

“He [Villagomez] did call me at my desk that he wanted this material to be purchased,” the witness said.

Shown five documents related to the purchase of 375 gallons of Rydlyme worth $13,125 from ISLA Micronesia, O’Malley asked Camacho what he believes are missing. Camacho replied that there’s no document from any division requesting for the Rydlyme.

ISLA Micronesia is owned by James A. Santos. He and his wife, Joaquina V. Santos, are Villagomez’s co-defendants.

Camacho said that, at the time of that transaction, he was not aware that James Santos is a brother-in-law of Villagomez.

As for the second purchase of Rydlyme, Camacho said Villagomez told him to prepare a purchase order for 1,200 to 2,000 gallons more of Rydlyme.

Camacho recognized a document as Santos’ quotation for 2,000 gallons of Rydlyme at $35 per gallon, for a total of $70,000.

Camacho recognized two purchases orders at 1,000 gallons or $35,000 worth each for Rota and Tinian. Camacho said Villagomez instructed him to prepare two purchase orders for the two islands.

Camacho said that, based on his knowledge of CUC procurement regulations, there should have been a request from a division and request for quotations.

In the third Rydlyme transaction, Camacho identified a document as another ISLA Marianas quotation dated July 13, 1998. Camacho said the quotation became a purchase for 3,000 gallons of Rydlyme.

O’Malley asked why it became 3,000 gallons when the initial request from the Power Division was for 2,000 gallons.

“The director [Villagomez] wanted more product,” Camacho replied.

He said the purchase of 3,000 gallons was worth $105,000.

Camacho said three purchases orders were prepared at $35,000 each for Saipan, Rota, and Tinian.

Of five documents relating to this purchase, Camacho said the quotations from vendors and a contract were missing. He said there was no request from Rota and Tinian, too.

On the fourth purchase, O’Malley presented a document from CUC’s Power Division asking for 20 drums or 1,100 gallons of Rydlyme worth $38,500.

Camacho said Villagomez wanted more Rydlyme and a purchase order for 1,400 gallons worth $49,000 was then issued.

On the fifth transaction, there was a request for 2,000 gallons of Rydlyme, apparently for the cooling system in the power engines for Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.

Asked by O’Malley about a report from the Power Division manager that he (Camacho) gave instructions for the 2,000 more gallons, Camacho denied this, saying he didn’t have the authority to make the order.

O’Malley asked why the amount was reduced to $49,000 instead of $70,000.

“No, I don’t really knew exactly why,” he said.

During cross examination by attorney Victorino Torres, counsel for James Santos, Camacho agreed that Santos’ submission of documents to CUC pertaining to the purchase or Rydlyme was consistent with CUC procurement regulations.

Camacho told Torres that he had no personal knowledge with respect to the 2007 Rydlyme transactions.

When Saipan Tribune left the courtroom, attorney David Lujan, counsel for Villagomez, was still cross-examining Camacho.