Ombudsman drops two cases vs Lapid

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga - After finding Gov. Lito Lapid guilty in the lahar sand quarrying scam, the Office of the Ombudsman dismissed yesterday two other administrative cases against him.

The first case involved the purchase of a P104-million, 40-hectare land in Barangay Maimpis here, while the other involved the alleged failure of Lapid to liquidate some P2.6 million in cash advances.

In an order approved by Ombudsman Aniano Desierto, Ombudsman director Emilio Gonzalez III said the 40-hectare property was acquired in November 1977, during the previous term of Lapid.

As such, Gonzalez said, "His reelection during the May 1998 elections operates as a condonation of whatever misconduct he may have committed..."

The controversy over the land purchase was triggered by two deeds of sale which differed on the cost of the property. One document, which later turned out to be spurious, stated that the land cost only P5 million, while the other showed it was P104 million.

The land was purportedly for a low-cost housing project for provincial government employees.

The Ombudsman order noted that Lapid "avers that the matters on the payment of the correct capital gains tax and documentary stamp tax and the computation thereof were for the teller and the Bureau of Internal Revenue, respectively, to handle and he has nothing to do with it."

In a fact-finding report also approved by Desierto, graft prevention officer Joan Roderos recommended the dismissal of charges against Lapid on his alleged unliquidated cash advances totaling P2,629,600 from January 1997 to December 1998.

Roderos noted that the Commission on Audit reported that as of Sept. 27, 1999, Lapid had already liquidated his cash advances, as certified by the provincial accountant.

Early this month, the Ombudsman rejected Lapid's appeal on charges that he and three others padded lahar sand quarrying fees in 1997.

Last Nov. 22, the Ombudsman meted Lapid and his co-respondents a one-year suspension. Lapid has appealed the case with the Court of Appeals.