Ex-Laguna mayor faces raps over illegal dump

MANILA, Philippines - For alleged irregularities in connection with the operation of a dump, a former mayor of Laguna has been charged with graft and malversation of public funds before the Office of the Ombudsman.

 Former Biñan mayor Hermis Perez and Victor Rojo of Etsaw Consultancy and Construction of Environmental Technologies International Corp. of the Philippines (ECCE) were also charged with violation of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

Lucia Salustiano and Jocelyn Alfonso, who filed the complaint on Wednesday, said the respondents should be held liable over a “fraudulent contract” for the purchase of land for residual waste disposal, acquisition of hydromex technology for zero waste management and  training of personnel.

 The complainants said a memorandum of agreement for the project was signed on Nov. 12, 2001, but Perez and Rojo amended the MOA on March 25, 2002 without approval from the municipal council. 

The project did not materialize as the 5,000-square-meter lot purchased for the facility was used as an open dump. 

The complainants said records at the Securities and Exchange Commission showed that Rojo was neither an incorporator nor a director of a stockholder of ECCE.   

“Yet respondent Perez granted ECCE a P71 million contract, full payment of which has been made by the municipality of Biñan. The whereabouts of respondent Rojo could not be ascertained despite diligent efforts on our part,” the complaint stated. 

The complainants added that the title of the property was not transferred to the local government.