New DOH usec on raps: ‘Mere fabrications’

MASANTOL, Pampanga — This town’s former mayor, who has been appointed undersecretary of the Department of Health (DOH), urged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to ignore allegations that he has pending criminal and administrative cases, as he accused "disgruntled elements" of questioning "the wisdom of your discretion to appoint persons in your administration."

In his letter to the President, former mayor Epifanio Lacap, a physician, said the alleged cases were mere fabrications which he attributed to "our political foes."

His wife, Corazon, is the incumbent mayor of this town and is running for re-election under the Lakas-NUCD.

Earlier, the Masantol Farms Development Cooperative (Mafadeco) had urged Arroyo to withdraw Lacap’s appointment, claiming he has pending criminal and administrative cases with local courts and the Office of the Ombudsman.

Last Feb. 15, Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor also wrote the President, through Executive Secretary Renato de Villa, opposing Lacap’s appointment to "any executive position mainly because of his questionable credibility and integrity."

Montemayor said that during his stint in Congress as representative of the ABA party-list group, he filed House Resolution No. 764 directing the committee on good government to investigate anomalies allegedly involving Lacap on the disposition of lands covered by the Pampanga Delta Development Project (PDDP) here.

He said PDDP lands intended to be leased out to local farmers were instead allegedly distributed "for the use and benefits of their (Lacap couple’s) relatives and political allies."

This, he said, led to the filing of an administrative case docketed as ADM-1-00-0139 against Dr. Lacap and his wife.

But in his letter to the President, Lacap said all cases against him have already been dismissed.

He cited the cases of serious oral defamation, grave threats and malice with mischief filed against him by resident Fermina Santos whose store here was shut down on orders of the municipal government in 1998.

The cases were later dismissed by both the provincial prosecutor and the Office of the Ombudsman, he said.

He added that the case involving the PDDP was a "recycled issue," and that all his actions pertaining to the project conformed with the requirements of the Department of Public Works and Highways. — Ding Cervantes