Urbiztondo mayor faces suit before Ombudsman
URBIZTONDO-The municipal mayor here is facing a case for violation of the anti-graft and corrupt practices act before the Office of the Ombudsman in a criminal complaint filed by a private citizen.
The complaint of one Milagros Mondero against Mayor Ernesto Balolong Jr., subscribed and sworn before Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Edmundo Manaois, stemmed from the purchase of grocery items, lumber materials for making wooden boats and rice in July last year.
But Balolong, in his counter-affidavit, claims that the complaint of Mondero be dismissed, arguing that the purchases were made pursuant to a resolution of the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) No. 55-IX-07 placing the town under a State of Calamity brought about by occurrence of dengue disease and flood.
He said the purchase of groceries worth P218,605; lumber, P53,710; and 450 cavans of rice, P445,500 was sought by barangay chairmen as relief assistance to their constituents .
In her complaint, Mondero asserted that Balolong pressured the SB to enact Resolution No. 55-IX-07 even if Urbiztondo was not plagued by dengue nor flood as certified by the Agno River Flood Forecasting and Warning Center in Tumana, Rosales.
Mondero charged that the purchase of the items was anomalous and illegal because there was no outbreak of dengue and flooding whatsoever.
The complainant further charged that the items were not distributed to the supposed victims of dengue and flooding but were kept in Balolong’s private warehouse and distributed before and during the barangay elections in October last year.
In his counter-affidavit, Balolong admitted that the 450 cavans rice of rice were stored at a building owned by him upon the request of Municipal Social Welfare Officer Rogelio de los Reyes.
He denied the allegation that the items purchased were used to influence the outcome of the barangay and Sangg-niang Kabataan elections, asserting that all 21 barangays of the towns received the goods allocated to them on account of the widespread calamities as determined by the SB.—LM
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