Punta SK head faces admin, criminal raps

A Sangguniang Kabataan councilwoman of barangay Punta Princesa has filed administrative and criminal charges against the SK chairman before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas for corruption and unethical conduct.

SK councilwoman Charlene Michelle Ruiz alleged that SK head Manilyn Mar-Mier illegally used government funds in allowing non-SK officials to join the Lakbay Aral Tour in Tagaytay City, Laguna, and Manila two years ago. The tour, according to Ruiz, was supposedly intended for the barangay and SK officials.

Ruiz said the barangay and SK officials appropriated about P250,000 for the four-day tour from November 19-23, 2003. However, she and another SK councilman, Aaron Kyle Cuizon, were "left out from the trip."

She, however, added that she opted not to join the tour since she was attending school. Ruiz claimed that in their stead, non-SK officials "whose names were not included in the memorandum and who are not qualified to participate in the activity were allowed by Mar-Mier to travel" using the tickets of those who were not able to make it.

Vice Mayor Michael Rama had issued a memorandum authorizing all barangay and SK officials in the city to join the trip. Ruiz further alleged that Mar-Mier asked her to sign the liquidation papers, which she resisted, adding that the SK chairwoman has until now "failed to render an accounting of the expenses incurred in that tour."

Thus, Ruiz requested the Ombudsman to look into the matter, saying that Mar-Mier should "be administratively sanctioned as well."