BACOLOD City – The Office of the Ombudsman dismissed criminal and administrative charges filed against several city government officials and employees in relation to the purchase of a private lot in Barangay Felisa for a solid waste disposal facility in 2008.
The Field Investigation Office (FOI) of the Ombudsman-Visayas filed the cases on March 15, 2017 for violation of Section 3 of Republic Act 3019, grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
Respondents included Mayor Evelio Leonardia; Cong. Greg Gasataya (former Sangguniang Panlungsod member); Eduardo Ravena (former city accountant); Goldwyn Nifras (former secretary to the mayor); Maphilindo Polvora (City Assessor); Josephus Cerna, Efren Canlas and Lemuel Reynaldo (Department of Public Services); Maximo Sillo (Department of Environment and Natural Resources); Noel Impresso (Engineer IV-City Engineer’s Office); Annabelle Badajos (former City Treasurer); Ricardo Dahil-Dahil (Management and Audit Services Office officer-in-charge); and Teresita Guadalupe (former City Engineer officer-in-charge).
The order penned by Ombudsman Samuel Martires dated May 6 but was received by the respondents last week read in part: “In fine, the criminal charge fails as do the administrative charges.”
It added that there was propriety and reasonableness in the purchase of the property for a sanitary landfill.
The case stemmed from the complaint filed by Sara Esguerra and Othelo Ramos in 2009.
“The Ombudsman found out that the case was already dismissed but it was refiled. Then again the results of the probe revealed that there was no new issue, so the Ombudsman dismissed the case,” said Gasataya.
The complaint was based on the Commission on Audit’s (COA) Annual Audit Report (AAR) in 2009.
The AAR stated that the price contracted by the city for the purchase of lots totaling 70,000 square meters and worth P340 per square meter for a total value of P23.8 million was “excessive.”
On July 8, 2008, the Deed of Conditional Sale was executed between Dynasty Agricultural Corp. and the City of Bacolod.
On June 5, 2008, the City Appraisal Committee issued Resolution No. 06 series of 2008 recommending the appraised value to P360 per square meter.
The property owner agreed to sell the property to the city in the agreed amount of P340 per square meter, manifesting that the reduction from the original demand of P600 per square meter was their “generous” contribution to the city in its quest to comply with the mandatory provision of law on solid waste management.
The complaint also cited that the contract price per Bacolod City Appraisal Committee was P23.8 million, but the contract price per COA appraised valuation was P18,323,719.05. The amount disallowed by COA is P5,476,280.95./PN
