Friday, August 12, 2005
Detractor circulates letter v. vice mayor
By Aurea A. Gerundio
DAVAO CITY -- A letter from an alleged former employee of Davao City Vice Mayor Luis C. Bonguyan was circulated Thursday in the City Council, divulging various anomalies allegedly committed by the vice mayor.
The letter, a copy of which was obtained by Sun.Star, alleged that Bonguyan directed his staff to fake several reimbursement vouchers.
It surfaced a day after Councilor Diosdado Mahipus warned more revelations will happen at the council.
However, Bonguyan was quick to deny the allegations, saying these are all lies concocted by his political detractors.
The former staff member, who identified himself as "Tony," named officemates who allegedly knew of such anomaly. (Sun.Star learned that the same Tony campaigned for former councilor Isidro Ungab for vice mayor against Bonguyan in the 2004 local election.)
"His staff, including Lory, Aquino, Lakay, Nasario and Irene, was with me in making fake vouchers. He (Bonguyan) made me do it many times. But I did not get anything for doing it," Tony said in the dialect.
However, one Irene A. Yaco, who was among those Tony said to have witnessed the forgery, denied accusations against the vice mayor.
Yaco said she has been working with Bonguyan since the time he was elected vice mayor, but she had never been told to sign illegal vouchers.
"That's untrue. It passes a lot of process for the receipts before it will be reimbursed. Since I worked with vice mayor, I never experienced that we tampered or made fake vouchers," Yaco said.
Yaco admitted Bonguyan had an employee before named Tony, but this person was tasked to do field works.
"He doesn't know anything about office matters. He is assigned on the field," Yaco said in the vernacular, adding that she is willing to testify before the Ombudsman that the allegations against Bonguyan were false.
Bonguyan believes that those behind the "detrimental" allegations against him are angry at him for pushing through with the reorganization in the City Council.
"If this is the prize of doing the revamp, so be it. Anticipated ko na ito," Bonguyan said.
(August 12, 2005 issue)
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