...but mayor now faces graft raps at Ombudsman

Beleaguered Parañaque Mayor Joey Marquez’s tiff with lover Kris Aquino may have ended, but his woes are not yet over after the Ombudsman held him criminally liable yesterday for graft over allegations he overpriced by P1.3 million the acquisition of ammunition for his bodyguards.

Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo said the actor-comedian, along with general services officer Ofelia Caunan, should stand trial for the acquisition of P3.2 million worth of ammunition in 1996 and 1997, which should have only been P1.9 million, allocated for cops detailed at the mayor’s office.

Investigators upheld findings made by the Commission on Audit, led by Fatima Bermudez, which discovered the ammunition purchased was done "without any public bidding," aside from the fact that its supplier, VMY Trading is "not an authorized dealer" and did not have the business permit in the local trade and industry office.

"As responsible public officers, it is incumbent upon them that public funds should be managed with utmost care and diligence so that the same will not be wasted to the damage of the government and the public in general," graft prober Emily Reyes stated in her 26-page resolution, dated Aug. 7.

A two-page Ombudsman press statement read: "The acts were done with evident bad faith and manifest partiality and unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference were given to VMY Trading plus the fact that undue injury was suffered by the city government of Parañaque."

Marcelo excluded in the graft suit VMY Trading owner Maritess Yabut — who testified in Marquez’s favor, saying they have been a "regular supplier" since Marquez’s predecessor Pablo Olivares — but her case was nevertheless "referred to the Fact-Finding and Intelligence Bureau for appropriate action."

"Ironically, to include Yabut in the information sheet is not, however, legally without violating her right to due process considering that she was not impleaded as a party respondent. This is, however, without prejudice to the filing of the appropriate charges, if the evidence warrants."