Dumaguete Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo, City Councilor Edgar Lentorio, and Assistant City Administrator Dinno Depositario are asking the Ombudsman to drop the criminal and administrative charges against them in relation to its investigation into last year’s CoViD meals issue.
The three officials are charged for violation of provisions of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019), as amended, and for Violation of Republic Act 7160, or the Local Government Code of 1991.
The charges were filed by the Ombudsman on the basis of a complaint filed by then Dumaguete Vice Mayor Alan Gel Cordova and Councilors Joe Kenneth Arbas, Agustin Miguel Perdices, Rosel Margarette Erames, and Bernice Anne Elmaco after the Sangguniang Panglunsod of Dumaguete conducted its investigation into the issue.
The complaint centered on the awarding of a P12 million contract to Aladdin Restaurant & Café — a business establishment that had no business permit to operate — to supply food packs to the City’s frontliners manning the health checkpoints during the Enhanced Community Quarantine and the General Community Quarantine.
The complaint by then Vice Mayor Cordova and Councilors Arbas, Erames, Perdices, and Elmaco alleged that Aladdin, which was one of three food suppliers, obtained unwarranted benefits because it was the favored supplier of the City as a dummy of Councilor Lentorio.
The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas filed the two complaints against the City officials Remollo, Lentorio, and Depositario, and on Nov. 10 ordered them to file their reply within 10 days.
Apart from denying the allegations in the charges, the three officials denied committing any wrongdoing.
In their 25-page Joint Counter-Affidavit, the three officials said that all their actuations were part of their official functions, which were done honestly and truthfully.
They said the charges should be dismissed for lack of merit, and for lack of probable cause.
