Ombudsman junks plea to suspend Nueva Ecija mayor

CABIAO, Nueva Ecija, Philippines – The Office of the Ombudsman has affirmed its ruling dismissing a petition to suspend Mayor Gloria Crespo-Congco and seven other town officials in connection with a grave misconduct case filed against them.

In a seven-page decision penned by Joaquin Salazar, director of the evaluation and investigation office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon, and approved by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, the anti-graft body denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Councilors Julito Wycoco and Rodrigo Rivera.

The Ombudsman said there is no valid ground to reverse its ruling, noting that Wycoco and Rivera did not present new evidence and failed to establish that the anti-graft court committed grave errors.

In its March 27, 2012 ruling, the Ombudsman junked the motion to suspend Congco, Vice Mayor Ernesto Talens Jr., Councilors Danilo Bagan, Danilo Clemente, Luisito Relucio, Jose Talens and Dante Umali and Sangguniang Bayan secretary Luisito Guevarra.

The anti-graft court said it did not find strong evidence to warrant the suspension of Congco and her co-accused pending investigation of the  complaint filed against them.

Wycoco and Rivera sought the respondents’ preventive suspension after accusing them of conspiring to falsify two appropriation ordinances and misappropriating public funds amounting to P10.48 million in 2011.

“The complainants alleged that the respondents unlawfully spent millions of pesos but surprisingly failed to buttress such allegations with telling proof such as a copy of an audit report from the Commission on Audit. It is a basic rule that bare allegations, unsubstantiated by evidence, are not equivalent to proof. In short, mere allegations are not evidence,” the anti-graft court said.

“The pieces of evidence presented by the complainants do not suffice to produce compelling proof that may warrant the removal from service of the respondents,” it added.

Wycoco, younger brother of the late National Bureau of Investigation director Reynaldo Wycoco, is running for vice mayor with Rivera’s brother, Ramil as his running mate.

Congco and Talens are running for re-election.