Abra gov suspends mayor over infra fund ‘anomalies’

BANGUED, Abra — This Abra mayor’s woes are far from over. Before the July 15 barangay polls, he claimed to have survived an ambush while his convoy was negotiating a mountain road in his hinterland town.

Now, Gov. Vicente Valera has suspended Mayor Clarence Benwaren of Tineg town for 60 days for alleged dishonesty and grave misconduct.

Valera’s preventive suspension order stemmed from a complaint filed against Benwaren by Tineg Vice Mayor Edwin Crisologo.

This is the second time that Benwaren was placed under preventive suspension. On Nov. 26 last year, he relinquished his official duties to Crisologo for a period of 60 days.

Benwaren’s alleged acts of dishonesty and grave misconduct involved P1.6 million in municipal funds defrayed for the construction or repair of irrigation systems, day care centers and rural health units.

According to records of the administrative case, the projects were allegedly reported as "complete" although they were found to have not been actually implemented nor finished.

"The act of disbursing and spending public funds for non-existent projects as well as making false statements in the completion report that a particular work or project is already completed when, in truth, it has not even commenced is dishonesty and/or grave misconduct," Crisologo’s complaint stated.

Benwaren was not available for comment when The STAR contacted him yesterday. But one of his aides dismissed Crisologo’s complaint as "baseless" and "politically motivated."