Mayor sees politics over cases filed against his administration
BACOLOD CITY -- "No other motive except to discredit me and my administration," was Mayor Evelio Leonardia's reaction to the graft charges filed by two allies of Lone District Congressman Monico Puentevella against him and other city officials at the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas.
The Ombudsman recently directed Leonardia to answer the issue on the purchase of land for a sanitary landfill which the complainants claimed to be overpriced.
"It is a very usual procedure that once the complaint has been received by the Ombudsman, the respondent should answer, even anonymous complaints," Leonardia said.
He cannot imagine the cases filed against them from government center to dumpsite and other projects of the city.
Leonardia advised his detractors not to express publicly the act of filing cases so that they won't be tagged for politicking.
Ombudsman-Visayas has ordered him including sixteen of Bacolod City officials and president of Dynasty Agricultural Corp., to file their counter-affidavit and other controverting evidences within 10 days to the complaint filed against them for the purchase of the new dumpsite in Brgy. Felisa, Bacolod City, after finding enough basis to proceed with the criminal investigation of the case.
The order was signed by acting by Evaluation and Investigation Office acting director Samuel Malazarte on Dec. 4, 2008.
Sarah Teresa Esguerra, known as Puentevella's ally and Othelo Ramos, dismissed employee of Bacolod City Hall, filed the charges for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, grave misconduct and acts prejudicial to public interest against Mayor Evelio Leonardia, Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, Councilors Greg Gasataya, Homer Bais, Dindo Ramos, Wilson Gamboa Jr., Al Victor Espino, Napoleon Cordova, Roberto Rojas, Alex Paglumotan, Reynold Iledan, and Diosdado Valenzuela.
City Legal Officer Allan Zamora, City Assessor Maphilindo Polvora, City Treasurer Annabelle Badajos, Bids and Awards Committee chairman Goldwyn Nifras, and Dynasty Agricultural Corp. represented by its president Ester Lopez were included in the complaint.
According to Esguerra and Ramos, the public officials entered into a transaction manifestly and grossly disadvantageous to the Bacolod City Government by buying parcel of lots in Brgy. Felisa on July 25, 2008 to be used as solid waste management disposal facility, in an exorbitant, extravagant and beyond the proper price limits.
Atty. Polvora of the City Assessors Office and chairman of the City Appraisal Committee, said he has many evidences to show that the property bought by the city for its landfill site is not overpriced as claimed by the complainants.
"Our basis for determining the fair market value of the property and for arriving at the computation of P360 per square meters was the zonal valuation of the Bureau of Internal Revenue as provided in R.A. 8974,” he stressed.
He is also armed with certifications from other Assessors' Office in the province of the fair market value of residential lots like the price of a residential lot in a remote barangay in Kabankalan which is P350 per square meters. Imagine Kabankalan City compared to Bacolod City as highly urbanized city.
"The BIR zonal valuation of the property in Brgy. Felisa is over P400 per square meters but however, the mayor asked the owners to reduce it to P360 per square meters, considering that the site is far from the Felisa proper and is a sunken area," Polvora added.
Atty. Allan Zamora also said they will file a motion to extend the ten-day deadline to thirty days for the submission of the counter-affidavit.
"Their claim that the city has hectares of property in the said area but still they pursued the purchase of Dynasty's property is also a 'big lie' because the said property was redeemed by the owner,” Zamora added.
Councilor Greg Gasataya, chairman of the Committee on Environment and Clean and Green Task Force said the issue was rehashed and for so long, it has been answered and clarified to the public.