Graft raps filed vs Sipalay City mayor, 20 others

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — The mayor of Sipalay City in Negros Occidental and 20 other city officials and employees, including members of his family, are facing a string of charges filed last week by a member of the Samahang Magdalo at the Office of the Ombudsman.

Rodolfo Divinagracia filed criminal and administrative complaints for alleged plunder, malversation of public funds, and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt and Practices Act against Sipalay Mayor Oscar Montilla and the other respondents.

Montilla the other day however dismissed as “politically motivated” the filing of the charges by a member of Samahang Magdalo, which head is Capt. Gary Alejano who lost the mayoralty race in the 2010 elections.

The mayor said the group of Alejano has been coming up with recycled charges against him and his administration.

Divinagracia had accused Montilla of allegedly stashing away P480 million or more of government funds, from year 2002 to 2010.

In a press statement last Friday, Alejano claimed that Senator Antonio Trillanes IV supported Divinagracia’s complaint against the mayor, Montilla’s wife Juana and mother Soledad, who was a former city vice mayor, members of the Sipalay City Council and other civilians.

According to a Magdalo statement, Divinagracia alleged that Montilla and his family and alleged cohorts acted in conspiracy with each other by pillaging and mismanaging the city of Sipalay resulting to enormous loss of public funds.

Montilla countered that he has managed the city government with utmost transparency, and a reaffirmation of this was the recent DILG award for Sipalay LGU with the Seal of Good Housekeeping. The award is given to LGUs after a thorough review of their operations by the DILG.

The mayor also lamented that the group of Alejano, since losing in the 2010 polls, has been involved in coming up with unfounded charges against his administration.

Alejano has also filed an election protest in connection with the 2010 elections but this case was dismissed by the Comelec for lack of basis, Montilla said.

Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. and Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez, for their parts, also believed that the charges against Montilla are politically-motivated. ‘It is plainly political because his opponent in the last elections is with the Magdalo group. It’s part of political hazard,” said the governor.

Marañon said the Aguinaldo Doctrine can apply to Montilla as he has been re-elected despite the charges and complaints filed against him. Since the charges filed against Montilla were “old cases” these are no longer valid because he was re-elected, he said.

Alvarez added that during his term as congressman, with Montilla as mayor of Sipalay under his district, the projects implemented in that city were in order. - THE FREEMAN