Former ally files admin plaints vs Duke

CEBU, Philippines - Liloan Mayor Vincent Franco “Duke” Frasco is facing administrative charges before the Cebu Provincial Board over the “irregular” distribution of P3 million in scholarship grants.

Vice Mayor Lucelito Pilapil, Frasco’s former One Cebu Party ally, filed Friday complaints of grave misconduct, grave abuse of authority, and conduct unbecoming of a public official against him.

Pilapil jumped ship to the Durano-led Barug Alang sa Kauswagan ug Demokrasya Party. He will be running for the mayoral post against Frasco’s wife Christina Garcia-Codilla, daughter of third district representative Gwendolyn Garcia.

Aside from filing the complaints, Pilapil also asked the PB to place Frasco under preventive suspension “due to the tremendous influence that the respondent mayor may have over the witnesses and the control of the documents that would prove the cases against him.”

He claimed that the distribution of the P3-million grant under the “DUKE Scholarship Program” to beneficiaries last October 23 was “irregular” because it was released without an approved municipal council appropriation ordinance.

Section 305-A of the Local Government Code provides that no money should be paid out of the local treasury “except in pursuance of an appropriation ordinance or law.”

The money used for the scholarship was sourced from P6 million in public funds supposedly for the town’s Solid Waste Management Program, which is an ongoing project under the development fund of the municipality.

But upon the request of the mayor, Pilapil said, P3 million of the P6 million was realigned to the scholarship program and the remaining P3 million was earmarked for “other development project”.

“The release and distribution of the P3-million DUKE Scholarship Program (grant) to the beneficiaries on October 23, 2015 even without an appropriation ordinance for the said purpose is an exercise of grave abuse of authority of the Mayor and a blatant disregard of the procedure in the disbursement of funds,” he said.

Pilapil was serving as acting mayor when the council approved the appropriation ordinance because Frasco flew to United States of America “for a vacation”. The mayor was on leave from October 27 to November 13.

As acting mayor, Pilapil vetoed the appropriation ordinance, but his veto was overridden by a town council unanimous vote.

“The fund subject thereof is part, I believe, of a continuing appropriation whose purpose or object of expenditure has not been completed yet; hence, the whole part or any part of the fund cannot validly be the subject of reversion or realignment thus far,” he stated in his veto message transmitted to the council.

Sought for comment on the complaints, Frasco, in a statement sent to The FREEMAN, said it was “politically motivated” considering that election is already very near.

He said the scholarship program has benefited over 6,000 college and high school students in the past eight years since 2007, when his first term started.

“In all that time, Vice Mayor Pilapil never raised any questions regarding the program, being aware of its legality, and knowing that education is the top priority of my administration. So my question is, why only now?”

He said Pilapil unfairly placed over 2,400 young scholars and their families “at the crossfire of his political agenda” due to the latter’s interest to become mayor of the town. — /RHM (FREEMAN)