BTF on graft case: What charges?
THE GHOST OF MC ADORE SALE
REALLY now?
This was the initial reaction of Mayor Belen Fernandez to radio reports that Amb.ALC Holdings & Management Corporation has supposedly filed charges against her and City Treasurer Romelita Alcantara before the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the non-issuance of a mayor’s permit to Citystate Savings Bank, a subsidary of Amb.ALC.
“I have heard reports. . . thus far, these are only reports,” Fernandez said.
In a press statement, the mayor said, “these are only reports, because neither I nor any member of my office has received a copy of the official complaint.”
Fernandez said the supposed complainants seem to be content in airing their sentiments through the media, which comes “at a very interesting time” when preparations are underway for the city’s biggest event, the Bangus Festival in April.
“Perhaps they (complainants) believe that this will dampen the mood and spoil the spirit of our celebrations,” said the mayor
“GRAFT”
At the same time, Fernandez warned Amb. ALC Holdings & Management Corporation to be careful and more circumspect using a word like “graft”, saying the “good people of Dagupan possess sharp memories and a clear understanding of the issues”.
“Ultimately, any mention of graft with relation to the MC Adore Hotel will only point back at them, due to the highly irregular and unlawful circumstances surrounding its rushed sale,” she said.
The mayor also thanked the Dagupan Regional Trial Court branch 40, through Judge Mervin Jovito Samadan, who has already put full and final closure on the matter by “declaring the sale null and void.”
Samadan had ruled earlier that the resolutions adopted by the Dagupan sanggunian authorizing then Mayor Benjamin Lim to sell MC Adore hotel as without legal basis.
With the resolution authorizing the sale of MC Adore declared as null and void, the mayor said all subsequent acts in connection thereto are void ab initio.
“This (decision of Judge Samadan) was an overwhelming victory for the people of Dagupan, since that dubious transaction would have shortchanged the city government of more than P100 million,” the mayor’s press statement reads.
That decision is under appeal with Amb.ALC as intervenor asking the Supreme Court for a change of venue from Dagupan City to Quezon City.
“It is the height of irony and senselessness that the person who protected the city’s interests against a dubious deal is now being persecuted by one of the parties involved in that deal,” the statement stated.
The mayor expressed confidence that any court will discern the true reason and motive behind these charges, and will dismiss these immediately.
CASE FILED
The reported cases were supposedly filed by lawyer Ferdinand Topacio for his client Benjamin Ramos of Amb.ALC.
A case agasint City Engrineer Virginia V. Rosario was also reportedly filed earlier against her by the bank for refusing to issue a building permit to the company. Rosario, however, denied having received any court notice about it.
Ramos alleged in his affidavit that “despite the company’s submission of all pertinent documents and fulfilling all requirements for the construction and renovation of the MC Adore properties at Zamora and Galvan Sts. Barangay IV, Dagupan City, the city engineer still refused to issue a building permit, allegedly upon instruction of Mayor Fernandez.”
The complainants said Alcantara was harassing Citystate Savings Bank, situated on the property, with threats of closure because it has no mayor’s permit.
The bank reportedly applied for a mayor’s permit on January 24, 2014 through Dagupan’s One-Stop Business Center but was denied because it has no certificate of occupancy which it should have been obtained together with a building permit.
The complainants alleged that Alcantara returned the checks paid by Amb. ALC that would cover real property taxes of MC Adore properties.
Rosario has earlier asserted that her office cannot issue a permit pending the final resolution of the case on the sale of MC Adore.–LVM
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