Tabogon mayor faces graft complaints anew

CEBU, Philippines —  Another criminal and administrative complaint has been against Tabogon Mayor Zigfred Duterte before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas for allegedly using government equipment and resources for personal business.

Fiel Montegranda, a resident of Barangay Pio, Tabogon, Cebu, accused Duterte of illegal and unlawful acts of gravely abusing his power and authority for personal gain. 

Montegrande has asked the anti-graft office to look into Duterte’s alleged illegal use of government equipment for his quarry business. He claimed that he discovered the alleged illegal acts when he visited Barangay Tapul on July 9, 2021 to check on a property owned by a relative of his wife.

According to Montegrande, the owner of the property complained of the alleged encroachment of the mayor’s quarry operations into their property.

“While I was there, I was shocked to see several heavy equipment owned by the Municipality of Tabogon, Cebu Province,” Montegrande said.

He claimed to have seen the municipal government’s payloader with body number 937H and a grader with body number 712H used in the quarry operations. Montegrande said the payloader was used to load earth materials into a dump truck owned by Duterte. The grader, on the other hand, was used to scrape off limestone from the mountain.

Montegrande said the mayor’s quarry operation did not have a permit from the municipal government.

Duterte dismissed the complaints as mere political harassment from his opponents.

“I deny those allegations and again these are political prosecution by my political opponents,” Duterte told The FREEMAN.

He denied operating a quarry business in his town. The mayor vowed to answer the complaints in the proper forum as soon as he received a copy of the complaint.

“Kay wala pa ko nakadawat ana og verified complaint from the Office of the Ombudsman,” he said.

Earlier, Duterte’s personal driver, Regie Ornopia, also filed a similar complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas.

Ornopia claimed the mayor had his salary paid by the municipal government while working in his private company. He also alleged that said the mayor’s personal dump truck was withdrawing fuel from the town’s gas depot. Duterte also denied this allegation.

Duterte, who is now on his last term as mayor, is eyeing to run for vice mayor in the next elections. His wife, Gloria, will seek the mayoralty post. — FPL (FREEMAN)