Mejorada laughs off DOJ complaint

Provincial Administrator Manuel “Boy” Mejorada yesterday laughed off the latest complaint filed by the People's Graftwatch of Iloilo as the handiwork of ignorant people who simply want to “make our lives miserable”.

Mejorada said lawyers Virgilio Sindico and Heptie Correa should know that Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez has no jurisdiction over government officials and employees and the latter could not preventively suspend officials like him.

“The complaint is simply ridiculous and funny, a crude attempt by these anti-Tupas individuals to harass us and using the name of People's Graftwatch, Inc. to gain a measure of credibility,” Mejorada said.

In their complaint, Sindico and Correa accused Gov. Niel D. Tupas Sr., Mejorada and executive assistant Levy Buenavista for alleged “usurpation of authority and falsification of public documents” with regard to unspecified food expenses in the Iloilo provincial government.

“The complaint doesn't even specify the date and venue of the supposed expenditure being questioned,” Mejorada said. “Neither are there attachments of documents to support the complaint.”

Mejorada said Sindico and Correa are apparently ignorant about the workings of any organization with regard to delegated authority.

“Even the President of the Republic delegates many of the powers vested in her position by law and authorizes subordinates to sign for and in her behalf,” he said.

Mejorada said that in his case, he signs certain documents like the report on utilization upon authority of the governor. The same is true with Buenavista, he said.

Sindico and Correa are desperate to pin down Gov. Tupas and paint a picture of alleged corruption where there is none, he said.

“They are trying to fire as many Scud missiles against the governor in the hope that one of them will hit the target,” he said.

Mejorada also cautioned Msgr. Meliton “Dodong” Oso against allowing the People's Graftwatch of Iloilo to be used for propaganda purposes by enemies of the Tupas administration.

“By now, Msgr. Oso should sense that there is an orchestrated campaign to bring down Gov. Tupas and his organization is being used as a tool to accomplish this,” he said.

Mejorada said the complaint should “go right into the waste basket” when it reaches Gonzalez unless this is part of a scheme to utilize the justice department to harass Tupas for breaking away from the Arroyo administration.