Tom: COA, Ombuds should probe San Roque anomalies

Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday said the government’s investigating bodies like the Office of the Ombudsman and Commission on Audit should quickly look into and come up with its findings on the reported anomalies allegedly committed by some officials of Barangay San Roque (Ciudad) even if they are his political allies.

While the mayor admitted that San Roque barangay captain Rogelio Ruizo and all of his councilmen are political allies of the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan he said he will not protect any of them if the reports are true that some of them are involved in graft and corruption.

It was Lidiore “Boy” Miranda, the barangay’s first councilman, who filed a complaint before the Ombudsman Visayas after he gathered evidence showing alleged irregularities in some of the barangay’s financial transactions, among them documents to make it appear that the barangay conducted some activities when in reality it hadn’t.

One such document presented by the barangay council headed by Ruizo to the Department of Interior and Local Government showed that former barangay captain Telesforo Rabaya, who died of cardiac arrest in March 3, 2004, was still able to attend a week-long activity organized for Persons with Disabilities from July 17 to 23 last year.

Miranda said the records that he obtained from the DILG Cebu City office showed that the late barangay captain even took the food and snacks that were served during the event.

“Oh, it should be placed in the Guinness Book of World Records!,” the mayor jested when The FREEMAN asked his reaction about the matter.

Osmeña is hoping that after Miranda has raised the issue with the Ombudsman, the anti-graft investigators should immediately look into it. The mayor said while the anti-graft body quickly attends to the complaints filed against him, but just takes for granted much heavier cases.

Miranda said he does not remember the barangay conducting a week-long activity last year involving PWDs and believes that some of his fellow barangay officials just fabricated the documents submitted to the DILG to justify the spending of the P14,000 budget for the event.

Ruizo earlier told The FREEMAN that one of his barangay employees, Ligaya Britania, had already confessed to him that it was she who fabricated the questionable supporting documents, but Miranda said he was surprised because all of them, except him, had signed the barangay resolution. — Rene U. Borromeo/BRP   (FREEMAN NEWS)