Issue on controversial lampposts: Ouano asks Ombudsman to be clear with statements

CEBU, Philippines – Former Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano is urging the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to be clear with its statements because the issue on the controversial lampposts put up for the ASEAN Summit in 2007 is rather too technical for the layman to grasp.

“The documents speak for themselves. The words ‘hereby dismissed’ appear in the conclusion in the three supplemental resolutions they themselves penned and were subsequently approved by the Tanodbayan on May 4, 2009,” Jonji Gonzales, Ouano’s spokesman said.

Gonzales said that it is surprising that, when the Ombudsman-Visayas talks with the media, they avoid at all cost the words “hereby dismissed” to point out that the former Mayor had no participation in three of four contracts they re-investigated in connection with the latter involvement in the anomalous procurement of lampposts during the 12th ASEAN Summit in 2007.

The Ombudsman-Visayas in their resolution dated May 4, 2009 showed that Ouano “appear not having any participation in both contract ID number 06HO008 and contract ID number 06HO0050.”

“The Mandaue officials appear not having any participation in both contracts, these cases against them are hereby dismissed without prejudice to their respective liabilities in other contracts,” the 113-page Ombudsman resolution reads.

The resolutions were signed by the committee re-investigating the lamp post case headed by Assistant Ombudsman Virginia Palanca Santiago and were recommended for approval by Visayas Deputy Ombudsman Pelagio Apostol.

Tanodbayan Ma. Merciditas N. Gutierrez has approved the recommendations of the Visayas Ombudsman to dismiss the case against Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu officials in these contracts.

“If they did not dismiss the cases against Mayor Ouano and other local officials for non participation in three of four contracts, why write the very words “hereby dismissed” in the resolutions they themselves penned and approved by Tanodbayan Merceditas Gutierrez,” Gonzales said.

It can be recalled that Ouano has four pending cases before the anti-graft office, one of which under contract I.D. number 06HO0048 was also dismissed after finding that the latter has no participation in.

The two other contracts, 06HO008 and 06HO0050, were likewise dismissed without prejudice by the anti-graft office, which means only one case was left pending before the said office.

Aside from these cases, Ouano has two other cases filed before the Fourth and Second Division of the Sandiganbayan.

Ouano’s case in the Fourth Division was likewise dismissed, which means he has still one more pending case that is in the Second Division, for which he still has to be arraigned.

Gonzales also said that the public deserves nothing but the truth and together with the Ombudsman-Visayas, they are one in doing its best to inform and update the public about these cases.

The former mayor in an interview with The Freeman last night said that “he will just leave everything in court” as he continuously insisted that he has nothing to do with such anomaly and has not profited out of such project. – Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/NLQ (THE FREEMAN)