Puentevella corrects Sayson over plunder case

PAMILYA MKK standard bearer Monico Puentevella corrected his opponent, Grupo Progreso mayoralty bet Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, when the latter claimed in a televised candidates' forum that no plunder case has ever been filed against him.

Puentevella presented documents to Sayson and furnished him a copy of the Ombudsman case, where the vice mayor, together with other city executives, have been charged with plunder on April 21, 2010.

The case was in connection to alleged overpriced Arao property the City Government acquired for more than P124.3 million for the Vista Alegre-Granada relocation. As per records of the city assessor, the property's aggregate value should only be P8.8 million as of January 21, 2010.

The cases, docketed as OMB-V-C-10-0085-C and OMB-V-A-10-0104-A for criminal and administrative complaints, respectively, were filed by Sarah Teresa Esguerra of Barangay 12, Bacolod City.

Sayson, when asked by Jay Jalandoni, co-host of ABS-CBN's "Ihayag: The Halalan 2013 Candidates' Forum," how he will face and answer the plunder charges lodged against him and other city officials, vehemently denied that a plunder case had been filed against him or any of his councilor.

"I would like to correct that no plunder (case) has been filed against Vice Mayor Sayson. Never. No plunder case had ever been filed against me or my...what we call this...my councilors," Sayson told Jalandoni.

Sayson and his co-accused submitted their manifestation to the Ombudsman, through their counsel, Joselito Bayatan, and their position paper related to the alleged overpriced property acquisition last April 26, 2012.

The case is awaiting Ombudsman resolution.

"I want to correct the vice mayor that he has been named one of the respondents to a plunder case...I can give this copy to him showing that he was a co-accused. Let's just be honest to the public," Puentevella told the candidates' forum aired live from 6 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. over ABS-CBN.

Puentevella, after the program, turned over the Ombudsman document to Sayson for his reference.

The former congressman, in the same forum, stressed that while his critics and rival lodged a complaint against him on the Bacolod Southeast Asian Games staging and the fertilizer scam, he has not received summons to appear in any court related to those politically-motivated insinuations labeled against him.

They are resurrecting their so-called issues every time it's election season because they have no legitimate issues against me, the former lawmaker said.

He added that in his three years as councilor, six years as Philippine Sports commissioner and nine years as congressman, “I have never had a single day of being summoned in any court of law," related to the rehashed issues hurled against him.