Baquerfo asks Ombudsman: Be fair

CEBU, Philippines - With his indictment to charges of malversation of public funds, Tudela Mayor Rogelio Baquerfo Jr. is calling on the Ombudsman to exercise “equity, fairness, and justice” in resolving the cases he had filed against his political rival Demetrio Granada. 

Baquerfo said he is wondering why the case filed against him was acted on “so fast” by the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan despite them being “rehashed cases.”

“We are now appealing to your good office anchored in the following principles and constitutional mandates affected by intervening factors: equal protection of the law, general welfare clause and intervening factors,” Baquerfo said in a letter to Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol.

The Ombudsman Visayas has indicted Baquerfo to charges of alleged malversation of public funds in line with the case Granada filed against him and Tudela municipal treasurer Angelita Roble in 2007.

Granada, who filed the case when he was still mayor, alleged that the P250,000 financial assistance Tudela received from the Presidential Social Fund on November 16, 2002 for socio-civic projects was not reflected on the town’s records.

Last year, the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division ordered Baquerfo’s preventive suspension for 90 days in relation to a case involving a waterworks system in Barangay Puertobello.

The case stemmed from a decision Baquerfo issued in 2004 to turn over the Puertobello waterworks system for the exclusive use of barangay Puertobello even without support and approval of the municipal council.

In his letter to Apostol, however, Baquerfo expressed disheartenment over the seemingly slow progress of the cases he had filed against Granada, among which are the P5.5 million alleged cash shortage and the P28 million worth of alleged “ghost projects” in the town.

“When Demetrio Granada filed rehashed cases against me, the Ombudsman and the Tanod Bayan act so fast. Is there a hidden hand? Are there intervening factors such as political intervention? Are there pressures from different angles? Are we not victims of justice delayed/justice denied?” Baquerfo’s letter reads.

Baquerfo, however, clarified that he is not complaining nor blaming anybody but is merely hoping that the cases he had filed would be “judiciously expedited.”

Granada and Baquerfo have engaged in a bitter dispute over the results of the May 2007 elections.

The Commission on Elections had declared Baquerfo winner by a slim margin over Granada, for which Granada filed an electoral protest before the Danao City Regional Trial Court. The recount showed Granada winning by 13 votes.

January 19 last year, the court issued a writ of execution but Baquerfo raised the matter to the the Comelec en banc, which issued a 60-day temporary restraining order on the court ruling.

To date, the Department of Interior and Local Governments stands firm that Baquerfo is the legitimate mayor of the town. — /JMO(THE FREEMAN)