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[av_heading heading=’‘New evidence’ may save Carl Lopez from penalties’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY MAE SINGUAY
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Tuesday, April 25, 2017
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BACOLOD City – The Office of the Ombudsman found former councilor Carlos Jose Lopez guilty of grave misconduct for issuing truck ban exemptions to some companies and individuals.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales meted Lopez with dismissal from the service and its accessory penalties.
However, Lopez told the press on Monday, newly discovered evidence “materially affects” the dismissal order.
The decision stemmed from the complaint filed by then mayor Monico Puentevella on June 3, 2014. The Ombudsman’s Iloilo field investigation office filed a supplemental affidavit on March 19, 2015.
Issuing truck ban exemptions is an official function of the Bacolod Traffic Authority Office (BTAO), not Lopez’s, the Ombudsman order dated Sept. 16, 2016 said.
The Ombudsman cited Section IV (e) of City Ordinance (CO) No. 542, series of 2011, and paragraphs (d) and (e) of CO No. 338, series of 2003, or the Comprehensive Traffic Management and Regulation Ordinance.
“Considering that the transgression [was] committed repeatedly, it cannot be denied that respondent acted with deliberate intent,” the order further stated.
If the dismissal can no longer be enforced due to the respondent’s separation from the service, the penalty shall be converted into a fine equivalent to the respondent’s one-year salary when they were still in the service, the Ombudsman said.
Copies of the decision were furnished to the press only on Monday.
Lopez told reporters he filed a motion for reconsideration against the decision in October last year yet.
New evidence from former BTAO chief Benedicto Villarias Jr. and current BTAO head Luisito Acebuche affirms their offices have not issued truck ban exemptions, said the former councilor.
Lopez said he “did not have access to records from the BTAO at the time the case was filed.”
Puentevella “controlled his three false and lying witnesses,” Lopez stressed. “There was no truck ban exemption issued.”
Among the new evidence were “certificates of denials” from truckers who allegedly received exemptions from Lopez or Villarias, said the former councilor. He described the supposed truck ban exemptions “fictitious and fabricated.”
“This runs contrary to what Puentevella and his cohorts have managed to make the graft investigators believe,” Lopez said.
The Ombudsman order stated that on Sept. 13, 2013 Villarias received from Lopez three separate letters “containing pertinent declaratory statements”:
“(1) The following are exempted from the truck ban because they deliver perishable and agricultural cargo.
“(2) The following companies are exempted from the truck ban provided they will not enter within the perimeter of San Juan Street.
“(3) I am granting the request of AVA Construction to be exempted from the truck ban.”
In his counter-affidavit, Lopez claimed he had “no deliberate intent … to usurp the power and authority [of] the city mayor or BTAO.”
His letters to Villarias were “merely recommendatory” and “official communications” from the committee on transportation and traffic management of the city council, which he headed, said Lopez.
The Ombudsman also found probable cause to indict Lopez for three counts of usurpation of official functions, a violation of the Revised Penal Code.
“Let the corresponding information be filed against Lopez in accordance with foregoing findings,” the Ombudsman said./PN
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