BY ADRIAN STEWART CO & GLENDA TAYONA
ILOILO City – Former mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog has been slapped with a graft complaint before the Sandiganbayan related to the city government’s then towing scheme against illegally parked vehicles.
The Office of the Ombudsman accused Mabilog of entering into a towing services deal with a company he allegedly owned in 2015 when he was still the mayor.
The Ombudsman’s specific complaint against Mabilog was for violation of Section 3(h) of Republic Act (RA) No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Section 3(h) of RA 3019 prohibits government officials from having financial or pecuniary interest “in any business, contract or transaction in connection with which he intervenes or takes part in his official capacity.”
Also charged was Councilor Plaridel Nava II, then the chairman of the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s (SP) committee on transportation.
The anti-graft court recommended a bail bond of P90,000 each for Mabilog and Nava.
Nava confirmed he filed a motion to dismiss the graft case.
“I am surprised that I am included in the crime charged when I am supposed to be a witness against former mayor Jed Mabilog,” according to Nava.
He expressed confidence that the case will be dismissed insofar as he is concerned.
“Aside from the fact that there is lack of evidence against me, the complainant (former mayor Mabilog) is currently nowhere to be found,” he added.
Mabilog has been out of the country since 2017.
Ombudsman prosecutors claimed Mabilog contributed P500,000 as initial capital for the formation of 3L Towing Services and issued business and mayor’s permits even without the application of 3L proprietor Leny Garcia.
Nava, on the other hand, was charged for scouting suppliers of wheel clamps from China and for also allegedly preparing the documents for 3L Towing Services’ registration with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
“The firm was eventually awarded the memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Iloilo City government to undertake clamping and towing of illegally parked vehicles within its territorial jurisdiction without competitive process,” the Ombudsman said.
“Thus, Mabilog and Nava are liable for intervening in their official capacity for 3L Towing Services to enter into a MOA with Iloilo City, all to the detriment of public service,” it added.
Relative to this case, in a decision issued in December 2017, then Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales ordered Mabilog dismissed from service. He was perpetually disqualified from holding public office.
The Ombudsman found him guilty of grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service for entering into a deal with 3L Towing Services.
In October of the same year, the Ombudsman first ordered Mabilog’s removal from government service for unexplained wealth.
Aside from perpetual disqualification, other accessory penalties meted on Mabilog for the towing deal were the cancellation of his civil service eligibility and forfeiture of his retirement benefits. He was also barred from taking civil service examinations.
The complainant in this graft case was journalist and former Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada.
Nava was then the chairman of the Sangguniang Panglungsod’s committee on transportation when the regulation ordinance incorporating the use of a wheel towing clamp as part of its towing ordinance was approved.
GENESIS OF THE CASE: TIMELINE
* April 8, 2014 – The SP of Iloilo City incorporated the use of wheel towing clamps in a towing ordinance penalizing the illegal parking of vehicles.
* Feb. 17, 2015 – The SP authorized Mabilog to enter into a MOA with 3L Towing Services for the implementation of the ordinance.
Under the MOA, 70 percent of the fines collected would be given to 3L while the remaining 30 percent would be the (local government unit’s) share. The 70-30 sharing scheme for the first five years will be followed by a 65-35 sharing scheme for the next five years.
* Feb. 24, 2015 – The city council confirmed the MOA.
* Feb. 27, 2015 – Mabilog suspended the agreement citing “some technical issues.”
* May 19, 2015 – 3L proprietor Leny Garcia wrote Mabilog offering to withdraw from the MOA “amidst the legal issues confronting it and submit to legal processes prescribed by laws on government bidding and procurement.”
In a supplemental statement to Mejorada’s complaint, Nava corroborated and confirmed the allegations of former against Mabilog.
According to Nava, as stated in the Ombudsman decision, Mabilog employed his services “to perpetuate and consummate his [Mabilog’s] illegitimate, immoral, dishonest and underground acts and transactions with private groups and corporate personalities doing or intending to do business in the city of Iloilo by using his power and influence as the chief executive of the city government.”
The city councilor narrated that Mabilog instructed him to look for someone they could trust to stand as dummy owner and to estimate the cost and expenditures for the proposed business venture on clamping services.
He said he regularly reported to Mabilog about the status of the business venture and that on June 16, 2014 the mayor handed him P500,000 in cash as capital contribution to the business.
The mayor also reportedly expedited the release of the business and mayor’s permits of the towing company.
Mabilog, on the other hand, filed a counter-charge against Nava with the Ombudsman claiming that the latter own the private property.
The Ombudsman decided to file the case against both of them./PN
