Philcadan settlers sue Cortes, 3 others

CEBU, Philippines - Members of an urban poor group living along the Mahiga Creek have filed criminal and administrative charges against Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes and three others over the alleged anomalous purchase of a relocation site in Barangay Paknaan.

Philcadan settlers Roberto Libata, Josefina Caya, Jose Larasan, and Milagros Escoto have asked the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate Cortes, Emmanuel Arong, chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Office, Atty. Francisco Amit, Jr. and Dennis Lua, owner of the 6.5-hectare relocation site, for alleged grave misconduct, abuse of authority and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The complainants claimed that the respondents conspired to divert P20 million of government funds, supposedly intended as financial assistance for the 1,200 Philcadan settlers along the Mahiga Creek, to buy a timber land in Barangay Paknaan.

According to them, the City Council has allocated P20 million for financial assistance at P17,220 each of the 1,200 Philcadan settlers in compliance with the provisions of the Republic Act 7279 otherwise known as the Urban Development Housing Act.

However, instead of giving the amount directly to the beneficiaries as financial assistance, the respondents allegedly used it as their down payment for the relocation site.

The complainants said they objected to it because the property is a timberland but the respondents did not listen to them. The complainants said they were able to obtain a certification from the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources that the 6.5-hectare property sold by Lua to the city government is classified as “inalienable and undisposable.

“The City of Mandaue proceeded in using that P19 million as down payment for the land, which happens to be a marshland,” the complaint reads.

“How did the City of Mandaue do that referring to the conversion of the money from cash financial assistance to down payment?” the complainants asked.

They claimed that the relocation site is not habitable for humans.

According to them, the city government of Mandaue should have exerted due diligence before entering into any land transaction deal.

“Why the rush on the part of the City to enter into such a dubious transaction, which without any doubt caused gross and undue disadvantage to the government,” the complainants added. — (FREEMAN)