THE Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the dismissal of Albay Governor Edcel Greco “Grex” Lagman for allegedly accepting payola from an illegal numbers game, locally known as jueteng, during his stint as the province’s vice governor.
In a decision dated January 28, 2025, but only released on Tuesday, April 29, the Office of the Ombudsman found Lagman guilty of grave misconduct over his alleged links to jueteng.
The anti-graft court said Lagman received around P8.1 million jueteng payouts from August 2019 to June 2022 based on bank deposit slips, together with the initial accusatory affidavits of the complainant and witnesses.
It said Lagman admitted to being the owner of the said bank accounts, but he failed to justify the source and purpose of the deposits.
There was also no evidence that Lagman objected to receiving such deposits, assuming that he had no knowledge or consent to these alleged illegal cash transactions.
The court said Lagman invoked the Bank Secrecy Law to assail its admissibility of bank deposit slips as evidence.
“These payolas were given in consideration or by reason of respondent being the Vice-Governor of the Province of Albay [then] in exchange for some future favor in relation to the operation of jueteng, an illegal numbers game. The same were given in anticipation of a protection for the operation of jueteng and the proliferation thereof in said province,” the order reads.
“In this case, the payolas were given in anticipation of some favor from respondent, in whatever capacity and manner he may do as a public officer, to protect the continuous operation of jueteng and the proliferation thereof in said province,” it added.
It said that Lagman's actions met all the elements of indirect bribery, including the offender being a public officer, the acceptance of gifts or benefits by the public office, and these gifts being offered because of his position.
It said the circumstance qualifies Lagman as a coddler and a protector under Republic Act 9287 or An Act Increasing the Penalties for Illegal Numbers Game.
“This Office finds that respondent had been animated by a corrupt motive to benefit from illegal gambling, and his corrupt actions were willful and done with discernment,” the court said.
In a statement, Lagman, who is running for reelection, vehemently denied accepting payola from jueteng.
“Katunayan, sa simula pa lamang ng aking panunungkulan bilang gobernador noong December 1, 2022, ay inilatag ko na kaagad na hindi ako pabor sa jueteng. At dahil sa aking malinaw at matatag na posisyong ito, walang nangahas na mag-alok sa akin ng payola o anumang uri nito hanggang ako ay bumaba sa aking pwesto dahil alam nila hindi ko ito tatanggapin,” he said.
Lagman stepped down from post upon receiving the decision.
He said they will appeal the decision to the higher court. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)