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Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Anti-graft body still assessing critics' charges: mayor
FLORIDABLANCA Mayor Darwin Manalansan said Monday that the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon is in the process of evaluating the complaint filed against him and some members of the Municipal Council by his political detractors.
Manalansan said the complaint filed against him, Vice Mayor Jun Lingad and Councilors Restituto Tolentino, Eduardo Bansil, Carlos Mallari, Conrado Baluyut Jr., Renato Garcia, Winston Rivera and Renato Lopez "are baseless accusations which are aimed to discredit my administration and are fueled by political motives."
He said the Office of the Ombudsman has not given him and his colleagues a copy of the complaint filed by Councilors Jocelyn Ong, Felmar Mendiola, Willand Patrick Floriendo and Federico Vitug III.
Manalansan said the anti-graft body is still studying the complaint to see if the complaint has basis. He added that the complaint is both "deceiving and malicious," adding that the Office of the Ombudsman has not yet even decided on the matter nor has found any probable cause to issue a suspension.
He said the project being questioned has never been implemented, but was shelved for further study so "how could the Municipal Government lose a single centavo?"
The mayor said the complainants did not even have the courtesy to furnish them a copy of the complaint, but they distributed some to the media. "They (complainants) just want to destroy us because they are aspiring for my position," he said.
He added that his lawyer is studying the possibility of filing slander and libel charges against the complainants, saying that the "negative and adverse story" has damaged his reputation not only as a local chief executive but a businessman.
The complainants said that a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed by Manalansan with the private proponent of the RBL Facility was "irregular on its face" because it does not detail what the facility is nor does it state the duration of the agreement.
The Municipal Government was planning to adopt a system of the facility, which would convert waste materials into organic fertilizer.
But the mayor said that any contract entered into by the Municipal Government is "aboveboard" and is "beneficial and advantageous" to the people and the local government.
"The only interest I have is to deliver the basic needs of our constituents, to provide them with basic health care, jobs and education. Garbage is a problem facing every town and city in the country. Here in Floridablanca we are addressing this problem to the best of our ability," Manalansan added.
(August 29, 2006 issue)
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