Rizal town mayor faces graft raps for overpriced firetruck

MANILA, Philippines – The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the filing of graft charges against the incumbent mayor of Taytay, Rizal for purchasing an overpriced firetruck from a private individual in 2005.

The case against Mayor George Ricardo Gacula stemmed from the complaint filed against him by Eliseo Cruz and Armando Carlos who exposed his purchase of an Isuzu Elf firetruck from one Melchor Ogao in May 2005 for P675,000.

It turned out though that the seller allegedly bought the truck two months earlier from the United Auctioneers Inc. at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Olongapo City for only P240,000.

In a six-page resolution, graft investigators said the transaction was “grossly disadvantageous” to the municipal government as government funds were used to pay for the firetruck “for an amount thrice its original price.”

Meanwhile, the Office of the Ombudsman also ordered the filing of graft charges against former mayors Samson Delgado of Sampaloc, Quezon and Isaias Almuete of Dupax del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya.

Delgado was charged with estafa for obtaining a P250,000 loan from two firms supposedly to finance a housing project in September 1998, but kept the money for himself.

Almuete, on the other hand, was accused of malversation of public property for failing to return a road roller vibratory compactor to the municipal government after his term expired.