Quezon City political rivalry heats up

MANILA, Philippines - Liberal Party Quezon City mayoralty candidate Herbert “Bistek” Bautista yesterday dismissed the latest harrassment complaint filed against him as nothing more than  an act of desperate political gimmickry hatched by the camp of Mike Defensor.

“Mike, whatever desperate act you, or your proxies do, you will not change the fact that the Liberal Party will defeat you and other administration candidates by a landslide in Quezon City,” Bautista said following the filing of another 15-page complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman by a certain Nicanor Salameda Jr. Perhaps the person behind this, who is known for his mastery of deceit, should abandon their same old stale, dirty tactics, said Bautista.

“I urge Mr. Defensor to instead come cleanly in the scandals involving billions of state funds during his stint in Malacañang, instead of dreaming up ways to catch attention. This is a tired old issue that they are trying to resurrect. Since day one, this has been the strategy of the GMA administration’s dirty tricks department. We are actually quite pleased that they have finally brought this matter before the proper forum,” Bautista said. He stressed that the complaint will not derail his focus in the campaign as he shrugged off these ridiculous never-ending accusations against him, saying his lawyers have anticipated the latest move of his political opponents months ago.

“We have nothing to hide so let the matter take its due course. We will just wait for the resolution. It is rather sad that while our campaign is centered on programs for development, our rivals would rather feed the people of Quezon City trash politics,” he said. He said the filing of a harassment case against him came as no surprise because the administration has been using exactly the same tactics against Senators Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas down to the local candidates of LP.

“The administration has a pressing need for brighter people. Despite all their black propaganda against national candidates of the Liberal Party and even Senators Aquino and Roxas, both are still leading their opponents by a mile and, in fact, the margin is getting wider every week. The same thing is happening for LP candidates all over the country and more so here in Quezon City, especially with the latest SWS Survey; 73 percent Herbert Bautista, 11 percent Mike Defensor, six percent Annie Rosa Susano, four percent Ismael Mathay, three percent Ariel Inton, 0.5 percent Samonte.

In a 16-page complaint-affidavit, Quezon City resident and complainant Nicanor Royo Salameda Jr. asked the Ombudsman that after finding probable cause, file the necessary criminal charges against Bautista before the Sandiganbayan and penalize him administratively after adjudging him guilty of the said charges. Salameda’s documents were not complete as he claimed he was unable to obtain all the documents covered by the Record Disbursement. Aside from Bautista, also included in the charge sheet is Ligaya Montallana, Administrative Officer V of the Quezon City government.

Bautista and Montallana were charged with violation of RA 7080 or the Anti-Plunder Law, RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act and several administrative charges including dishonesty, grave misconduct and conduct grossly prejudicial to the best interest of the service. It was alleged that in 2009 up to present, Bautista and Montallana spent the budget of the Office of the Vice Mayor of Quezon City in the amount of P106,255,017 for food purchases from caterers without competitive bidding.