Ombuds orders San Roque officials to submit their counter-affidavits

CEBU, Philippines – The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas had decided to upgrade into a full-blown investigation the case filed against San Roque barangay captain Rogelio Ruizo and two other barangay officials on suspicion that they had pocketed part of the budget for the senior citizens.

Ruizo, together with barangay councilmen Mario Pamolarco and Julieta Balcon were instructed by Assistant Ombudsman Virginia Palanca-Santiago to submit their respective counter-affidavits and other controverting evidence to the complaints filed against them.

Santiago said the concerned barangay officials will face separate criminal and administrative cases. Only three barangay officials are respondents in the administrative case, but the anti-graft body included senior citizens president Escolastica Baric as one of the respondents in the criminal case.

Baric was also required to submit her counter-affidavit and other controverting evidence to prove that she has no hand in the alleged questionable activities.

Santiago warned the respondents that failure to submit their counter-affidavits within the 10-day period from the date of receipt of their copies shall be deemed as a waiver of their right to present their answers and the Ombudsman shall proceed the investigation according to existing rules and guidelines.

"Motion to dismiss, motion for bill of particulars and similar dilatory motions are prohibited pleadings and shall be accordingly stricken off the records of this case," Santiago warned the respondents.

The case stemmed from the complaint of senior citizens Romana Salamanes, Elsa Cabardo, Matilde Kyamko, Romeo Cortes and Romulo Buaya, who claimed the budget that was allocated for the elderly persons in their barangay were not spent by their officials for projects that would benefit them.

The complainants had asked the Ombudsman investigate the case because they strongly believe that some of their officials had committed malversation of public funds. They claimed that in several occasions, the barangay officials told them that the budget for senior citizens is only P7,000, which, according to them, is a lie.

The complainants said they were able to obtain some documents from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) which showed that the barangay's budget for the senior citizens in 2009 was not only P7,000 but P38,812.72.

During the Senior Citizen's Month celebration and Christmas Party last year, the elderly were allegedly asked by their barangay officials to contribute donations for food and for the honorarium of the driver of the Kaohsiung bus that they used in going to Simala, Sibonga.

Balcon was the one who reportedly told the senior citizens that they only had P7,000 budget for their group, but said she already corrected the miscommunication.

Ruizo, for his part, said earlier the complaint is politically motivated because the complainants are supporters of Councilman Lidiore Miranda who is planning to chal-lenge his reelection bid in next month's barangay elections.

Miranda said that while it is true that he has a plan to challenge Ruizo, he is not inventing the cases because there are documents showing that there was an anomaly in the use of funds intended for the senior citizens. (FREEMAN)