BACOLOD City – Two men accused of distributing libelous letters at the Bacolod City Government Center were arrested yesterday.
Perfecto Señeres and Mark Anthony Diaz were detained in the lockup cell of Police Station 4 after City Legal Office (CLO) head Atty. Joselito Bayatan lodged a libel case against them at the City Prosecutor’s Office.
The documents that Señeres and Diaz distributed to all offices of city council members were copies of a letter they sent to the Office of President Rodrigo Duterte, accusing Mayor Evelio Leonardia’s administration of “graft and corruption to the highest order.”
After receiving a copy of the letter, one of the staff at the Office of the Vice Mayor alerted personnel from the Peace and Order Security Office.
Señeres and Diaz were then caught. After an inquest, they were detained.
According to Bayatan, Señeres and Diaz were suppliers of construction materials during the term of former mayor Monico Puentevella in 2015.
They want the city government to pay them their dues worth P3.7 million.
But Bayatan said their transaction with the city government at the time was done during the election period, which makes it a violation of the Government Procurement Reform Act.
He added that Señeres and Diaz were earlier told that their transaction with the city government is among those done through irregular bidding.
The CLO head stressed that the letters that Señeres and Diaz distributed have contents that are “below the belt” and “not true.”
Señeres said they are ready to face the case filed against them./PN
