SP casual employee backs Sarah Jane's expose on land scam yarn
Ortigoza
Iloilo City -- Following what Sarah Jane Magdalo had exposed regarding the alleged overpriced acquisition of a lot for relocation site, a certain Norberto Ortigoza, who claimed to be chairman of the Peoples Council Against Graft and Corruption, came out over the weekend to affirm the whistle-blower's allegations.
Norberto Ortigoza, who is also a casual employee of the Sangguniang Panlungsod and serving as consultant to the office of Vice Mayor Guillermo De la Llana, said in a radio interview that he is preparing to file cases against several city government officials before the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas relative to the alleged anomalous transaction.
Ortigoza said he is set to file charges against realtor Efren Gimeo, members of the committee on Land Evaluation and Acquisition (CLEA) and committee on appraisal and zoning of the city government for the alleged overpricing of the lot acquired purposely for residents affected by the Iloilo Flood Control Project.
Ortigoza theorized that the overpricing reached to some P28 million.
The alleged land scam was first exposed through a letter sent to the media by Magdalo who claimed to be an employee of the National Housing Authority (NHA). NHA however denied the existence of Magdalo.
It was not immediately known who else comprise the Peoples Council Against Graft and Corruption besides Ortigoza. The News Today learned that it was conceived a decade ago but nothing was heard from the group for quite some time.
Ortigoza, who admitted of being also a realtor, however clarified that he is not the so-called Sarah Jane Magdalo.
Ortigoza said, he merely took interest of the case as it involves public money.
Earlier, Councilor Eduardo Peñaredondo alluded to a casual employee of the SP as the "real" Sarah Jane Magdalo. He said the employee once asked Marilyn Inocencio Mirasol, owner of the controversial lot, to authorize him to act as realtor to sell the property to the city government. However, the owner preferred Gimeo to sell the property.
Ortigoza has not yet decided whether to include Mayor Jerry Treñas in the complaint or not. It was the chief executive who signed in the deed of sale between the city government and land owner Marilyn Inocencio Mirasol, who was represented by Gimeo as their attorney-in-fact.
The forging of the deed of sale was made after the Sangguniang Panlungsod approved a resolution granting the mayor an authority to enter into a deed of donation with the land owner. The resolution was approved last week of January 2006.
Ortigoza said there was a "conspiracy" between Gimeo and the members of the committee since they already pushed for the acquisition of the land since 2004. He said they made a "grand design" for city government to surely buy the property at P390.00 per square meter.
He also claimed there was a misrepresentation on the part of the owner since they paid a much lesser tax on the year 2003 and 2005. He alleged the owner only paid P7,435.80 taxes on 2003 and 2005.
They should have paid some P91,000 since they claimed that the market value of the property is P81 million and the assessed value is P6 million. The higher the market value of the property, the higher assessed value, the higher taxes should go to the coffers of the city government, said Ortigoza.
He added that he has already written President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to order the National Housing Authority (NHA) to stop the release of the funds for the acquisition of the relocation site to the city government.
The city government has already released P28 million to the owner. It is stipulated in deed of sale that the city government will pay an initial amount of P28 million to the owner after the contract is formalized.