Muntinlupa mayor charged with graft

MANILA, Philippines - Muntinlupa City Mayor Aldrin San Pedro was charged with graft before the Office of the Ombudsman yesterday for allegedly bringing 32 Muntinlupa Department of   Education (DepEd) officials on an all-expense paid trip to Hong Kong in January this year.

Also on the same flight were at least seven Muntinlupa City officials and employees assigned to Mayor San Pedro’s office, according to concerned resident Amelita Argana and Councilor Allen Ampaya, who filed their complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman yesterday. Their lawyer, Harry Roque, accompanied them.

Ampaya, who is running for re-election, is a nephew of former mayor Jaime Fresnedi, who is running against San Pedro in the mayoralty race, according to Muntinlupa public information office chief Omar Acosta.

Argana and Ampaya alleged that the DepEd officials who went on the trip from Jan. 28 to 30 are in all likelihood going to be administering officers or even members of the Board of Election Inspectors during the May 10 elections.

Based on the flight manifest cross-checked with the 2009-2010 directory of DepEd Muntinlupa City, almost all of the city education officials joined the trip.

The entourage consisted of all 10 division supervisors, two division coordinators, and 18 elementary and high school principals in Muntinlupa City. They all took the same flight, the complainants said.

The complainants also said “records of the DepEd National Capital Region show that these DepEd officials were on vacation leave of absence with pay. However, the same records confusingly indicate that it was an educational trip.”

San Pedro was charged with violating Republic Act 6713, the code of conduct for public officials and employees, in relation to RA 3019, the anti-graft law, for “transforming” DepEd officials into “dispensers or peddlers of undue advantage.”

San Pedro said he has yet to receive a copy of the complaint, which he described as politically motivated. “The motives of (Ampaya), an incumbent councilor who is seeking re-election… are already suspect considering foremost its timing. (It is) intended to gain political mileage for his name and at my expense,” he said.

San Pedro said he cannot recall that public funds were used for the reported travel.