Ex-Ilocos Sur mayors’ plea in graft case junked  

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman has denied a petition filed by two former mayors of Narvacan, Ilocos Sur in connection with a graft case involving the tobacco excise tax.

In a nine-page ruling issued recently, the ombudsman dismissed the petition of former mayor Edgardo Zaragoza and his son Zuriel for lack of merit.

The Zaragozas served as mayors of Narvacan for almost 30 years.

They were indicted for malversation and falsification of public documents as provided under Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Aside from the Zaragozas, the ombudsman also named respondents in the case municipal accountant Melody Cadacio and education research assistant Mario Cabinte.

The charges were filed by Narvacan Mayor Luis “Chavit” Singson, who accused the respondents of misappropriating hundreds of million of pesos in shares of the municipal government from the tobacco excise tax.

Singson said the respondents forged records to pad the number of farmer-beneficiaries of the excise tax.

“The people of Narvacan suffered due to the abuses committed by local officials,” Singson said in the complaint.

In their motion, the Zaragozas said the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor had dismissed a complaint of grave coercion filed by farmers’ group president Constante Cabitac against them for lack of evidence.

Cabitac testified that the Zaragozas ordered him to encash checks more than 10 times and that he was paid a measly amount.

The ombudsman rejected the arguments of the Zaragosas.