Isko Moreno faces plunder raps

MANILA, Philippine - Five barangay chairs from the City of Manila on Tuesday filed plunder charges against Vice Mayor Isko  Moreno and several local executives for allegedly pocketing over P70 million in real property taxes last year.

 

In an 11-page complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman, William Ypon of Barangay 101, Elenita Reyes of Barangay 105, Tito Caldoza Jr. of Barangay 106, Ominador Caccam Jr. of Barangay 107 and Eduardo Solis of Barangay 116 also filed the same charge against city councilors Marlon Lacson and Edward Maceda.

 

Also facing plunder raps are lawyer Simeon Garcia, city administrator; lawyer Edward Serapio, secretary to the mayor; Liberty Toledo, city treasurer; Rosario Planas, city accountant;  Maria Pamela Manzano, city budget officer; Siegred Hernane, chairman of Barangay 128, and his councilors Albin Salamat, Ricky Hernane, William Depano, Jesus dela Cruz, Marcelino Reyes and Ricardo dela Cruz.

 

They complainants claimed that on Oct. 8, 2013,  Manzano forwarded before the city council that Barangay 128 has an available fund of over P25 million undistributed collections from real property tax (RPT). 

 

The amount was disbursed to Barangay 128 on Dec. 2, 2013 through a resolution, which was affirmed by the City Council.

 

The second tranch of the RPT, amounting to over P52 million, was disbursed on Dec. 27,2013.

 

However, the complainants said that the tax collection "came from sources not within the territorial jurisdiction of the said barangay but due the other barangays."

 

"The resolution is illegal...because it has been issued as part of the scheme to malverse city funds and freely enable the respondents to acquire and amass ill-gotten wealth not only what had been released but also those that had been released in the past," the complainants said.

 

They also alleged that the city council re-defined the jurisdiction of Barangay 128 by expanding it to cover business and industrial establishments "so that it would be easy for them to share in the proceeds of the RPT."

 

The complainants have requested the Ombudsman to issue a preventive suspension order against the respondents pending the resolution of the plunder case.