Barili mayor's theft raps versus rival's staff junked

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office has affirmed its earlier dismissal of a criminal complaint for theft filed by Barili Mayor Teresito Mariñas against a staff of the vice mayor and three others.

Assistant provincial prosecutor Maria Luisa Ong dismissed the motion for reconsideration filed by Mariñas on the dismissal of his complaint against Antonio Paras, Jr., Guillermo Aliganga, Calvin Bongko and Paulino Ugaban for lack of evidence.

Paras, a job order employee of the vice mayor’s office, along with the rest of the respondents were accused by Mariñas of stealing construction materials from the town’s newly constructed legislative building.

Mariñas is currently at odds with Vice Mayor Marlon Garcia, whom Paras is working for, and are expected to be pitted against each other for the 2013 elections.

Ong said there was no probable cause to warrant the filing of the case in court against the respondents.

Mariñas earlier accused the respondents of stealing “assorted materials mixed with sand and gravel”. The stolen materials were allegedly loaded into a mini dump truck driven by Aliganga without his consent.

The respondents denied the complaint saying they were just loading waste materials for disposal. 

The prosecutor’s office dismissed Mariñas’ complaint on August 19, 2011 for lack of probable cause but the mayor filed a motion for reconsideration. — (FREEMAN)