Dismissal of graft charges vs Blaan chieftain lauded

KORONADAL CITY — Blaan and T’boli tribe members in South Cotabato province were elated after the Ombudsman dismissed the corruption charges against a renowned tribal leader. He was earlier accused of mishandling of government funds, for them a landmark dispensation of justice benefiting their communities.

Radio reports in Central Mindanao cities and provinces on Monday stated that the office in Davao City of the Ombudsman cleared Domingo Collado, appointed Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) to the Sangguniang Bayan of Tampakan, from corruption charges via a resolution by Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer Jay Visto, dated Feb. 26, 2024.

Blaan and T’boli tribal chieftains in South Cotabato towns were quoted in Monday morning's radio reports as thanking the Ombudsman for having dismissed the unsubstantiated accusations by complainants that want Collado replaced as IPMR in Tampakan’s municipal council by their favored bets.

The complainants, led by two tribesmen aspiring to become members of local ruling tribal councils, had accused Collado of having mishandled P77,541 worth of government funds for a 2019 municipal cultural activity in Tampakan, about 16 kilometers from Koronadal City, the capital of South Cotabato.

“The amount is small, but so big in terms of damages it can cause the Blaan tribe and all other indigenous groups in South Cotabato. It was enough to tarnish the image of the tribal communities in South Cotabato if proven that a respected tribal leader is guilty of it. We are glad he was not," T’boli tribal leader Edmund Ugal said.

Blaan community elders in Tampakan told reporters that the Ombudsman’s exoneration of Collado is a big thing for them owing to his being a non-partisan tribal representative to the Tampakan municipal council, appointed based on endorsements by tribal councils and officials of the National Commission on Indigenous People in Region 12.

“I bear no animosity towards the people who had charged me maliciously of graft and corruption before the Ombudsman. The case was dismissed for being unfounded,” Collado told reporters here on Monday morning.