Village chief faces raps before Ombud

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO - The village chief in Barangay San Francisco in Mabalacat City has recently been charged with perjury and malversation of public funds before the office of the Ombudsman.

Barangay secretary Edilberto Carrillo filed the charges against Manuel Dingal, current chairman of the said village.

Carrillo, in his complaint, accused Dingal of perjury for allegedly violating his oath of allegiance. The barangay secretary claimed Dingal is an American citizen by naturalization.

Based on his complaint, Carrillo said Dingal misrepresented himself as a Filipino citizen in his certificate of candidacy (COC) in 2007 for barangay councilman.

Dingal sought reelection in 2010 and landed as first councilman under the same deception on the nature of his nationality in his COC.

He subsequently assumed the office of village chief as a result of permanent vacancy, after the barangay chairman, anti-drug crusader Marcelino “Boy” Cruz, died of heart attack during a drug bust last year.

In his complaint, Carrillo claimed Dingal is also facing charges of burglary, theft, and trafficking before the Superior Court of Arizona in the United States of America.

Dingal arrived in the Philippines on October 10, 2003, while the alleged warrant of arrest against him was issued October 15, 2003 by the same court.

The former secretary explained that Dingal committed malversation when he personally collected garbage fees from one Rosalyn Singian, a village collector.

It was claimed that in the 2012 Village budget passed by the council, the projected amount collected from garbage fees is P350,000.

Sun.Star Pampanga tried to reach Dingal for comment but to no avail.