Mayor, 7 other executives of Iloilo town face graft charges

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman yesterday ordered the filing of multiple graft and malversation cases against an Iloilo mayor before the Sandiganbayan.

The Ombudsman acted on four separate complaints filed by Iloilo Rep. Neil Tupas Jr., one of those who pushed for the impeachment of resigned Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez a few months ago, against Mayor Neptali Salcedo of Sara town.

Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro, in his capacity as acting Ombudsman, said there was probable cause to indict Salcedo and seven other local officials for various offenses.

In the first case, Salcedo, together with municipal treasurer Edna Pacrim, municipal engineer Roel Salcedo, municipal budget officer Gregorio Golingay, municipal planning and development coordinator and Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) chairman Calixto Oliveros, municipal general services chief Marcelino Abellar, executive assistant III and BAC member Marilou Balasabas, and statistical aide and BAC secretariat head Elizabeth Tan, was ordered charged with graft for alleged contract irregularities.

Tupas, chairman of the House justice committee, filed the complaint based on audit findings that contracts and purchase orders totaling P1,249,050 were questionably awarded to Porquez Farm and General Merchant even though the company was not a bona fide supplier.

Moreover, the corresponding disbursement vouchers for payments made to the firm “were not supported by the required documents, and the vouchers lacked several of the required signatures,” the Ombudsman said.

Because of this, Oliveros, Pacrim, engineer Salcedo, Golingay, Abellar, Balasabas and Tan were found liable for inefficiency and incompetence in performing their official duties, and were each meted nine-month suspension without pay and benefits.

In the second case, the Sara mayor, Pacrim and engineer Salcedo were indicted for the allegedly questionable payment of P200,000 for the construction of a farm-to-market road from Barangay Domingo to Barangay Muyco in Sara town and another P100,000 for another farm-to-market road from Sitio Kapinayan, Barangay Domingo to Sitio Sincua, Barangay Lemery.

Tupas said the project merely entailed the repair of an existing road and not the construction of a new one, which meant that for the Kapinayan-Sincua project, the town paid an overpriced amount of P48,256 because such a project would only cost P51,744.

Based on a Commission on Audit (COA) report, the town also paid an excess amount of P96,512 for the Domingo-Muyco project because it was valued at only P103,488.

For the third case, Salcedo, Pacrim, engineer Salcedo, accountant Edgar Beatingo, and a private individual identified as Luis Ybiernas were charged for allegedly causing the payment of P1 million to the Sara Caltex station for fuel and lubricant used in several road repair and expansion projects.

However, COA auditors found an excess payment of P153,721 because the actual cost of fuel consumed was only P846,279 for 10 different projects.

In the fourth case, Salcedo, Pacrim and the municipal engineer face 30 counts of malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents over the doubtful release of P1,834,400 for the labor payroll.