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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Wednesday. September 20, 2017
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ILOILO City – Councilor Plaridel Nava was supposed to drop a bombshell yesterday – another alleged corruption at city hall, this time involving chickens distributed to beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). But he chickened out.
“Waay na ‘ko gana. Sin-o abi may gana mag-expose corruption kun after mo ma-expose, pati ikaw dalasaon man,” Nava told city hall reporters.
A day before Nava was to make his exposé at the Sangguniang Panlungsod regular session, the Office of the Ombudsman announced it found probable cause to charge the councilor and Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog of one count of violation of Section 3(h) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019) over a city government deal with 3L Towing Services.
In separate complaints lodged with the Ombudsman two years ago, both Mabilog and Nava accused each other of having business interest in 3L Towing Services.
According to Nava, the Ombudsman’s action discouraged him from exposing corruption at city hall.
He was supposed to bare yesterday that the chickens the City Agriculture Office were distributing to 4Ps beneficiaries were underweight.
The chicken distribution had a project cost of P10 million, said Nava, and the supplier was supposed to deliver chickens weighing 300 grams each.
“Pero ang ginapanagtag nila pisu, medyo magulang lang sa balot,” said Nava.
The councilor said he even intended to bring live chickens to the city council to supplement his exposé.
“Ugaling nadulaan ako sang gana. Basi hambalon naman nga ako ang supplier (of the chickens). Para wala na lang, let us leave it that way,” said Nava.
With the adverse Ombudsman ruling against him, said Nava, corruption would continue at city hall.
“From now on, nobody will dare expose irregularities in the city government. Tan-awon ta ang Ombudsman kon makaya nila ang trabaho nila,” said Nava.
He criticized the Ombudsman resolution indicting him over the city government’s contract with 3L Towing Services.
According to the Ombudsman, what was clear from the accusations and counter-accusations between Mabilog and Nava was that “both colluded to create 3L, to get (Leny) Garcia to act as its dummy owner, to have the business registered with the Department of Trade and Industry and Bureau of Internal Revenue, to secure its business and mayor’s permits, and to have it awarded the memorandum of agreement with the city government without going through a competitive process.”
Nava countered, “In the first place, paano mo ma-prove ang conspiracy kon ang duha ka-conspirators waay man nag-ako kag nagtinudluanay? Paano ka ka-prove conspiracy when in the first place waay man to matigayon ang kontrata, waay man na-pursue. Waay gani damage sa city government.”
From now on, said Nava, he won’t say anything about corruption at city hall.
“Basi bala kon i-expose ko kag hambalon naman sang natungdan nga akon ina, mapati naman ang Ombudsman nga parti ako dira, ti kundi marimalaso pa ‘ko. Bay-an ta na lang na ang tanan nga korapsyon,” said Nava.
The councilor then blasted the Ombudsman for losing a lot of graft cases at the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court.
“Kon isipon, indi sila ka-convict sang mga erring public officials. Damu sang ila acquittal because indi sila ka-produce evidence kag indi sila ka-present sang testigo,” said Nava.
The city government’s chicken distribution is part of its Integrated Food Production Program (livestock component) funded under the Bottom-up-Budgeting (BUB) program of the National Anti-Poverty Commission.
Early this month, the City Agriculture Office distributed 1,000 heads of native chicken to 200 recipients composed of 4Ps beneficiaries and farmers from Jaro district. They were the fourth batch where each recipient was given five native chickens.
Aside from the native chickens, they will also receive fertilizers and water receptors which they can use in vegetable production.
City hall earlier gave 1,875 native chickens to 375 recipients from Mandurriao, Molo, and La Paz districts./PN
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