BACOLOD CITY — New graft charges have been filed against Mayor Evelio R. Leonardia and other city officials.
The latest charges were in connection with the purchase of a property in Barangay Felisa that will be developed into a sanitary landfill for the city.
The mayor and other city officials are also facing charges of graft in connection with the construction of the government center and the acquisition of dump trucks.
Othello S. Ramos and Serafin M. Oro, Jr., city residents, filed criminal and administrative cases for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practice Act as well as charges of grave misconduct and acts prejudicial to public interest against the city officials.
Aside from the mayor, other officials charged were Vice-Mayor Jude A. Thaddeus Sayson and Councilors Greg G. Gasataya, Homer Q. Bais, Dindo C. Ramos, Wilson C. Gamboa, Jr., Al Victor A. Espino, Roberto M. Rojas, Napoleon A. Cordova, Alex Paglumotan, Reynold L. Iledan and Diosdado A. Valenzuela.
The city treasurer Annabelle C. Badajos, acting city engineer Teresita J. Guadalupe, city assessor Maphilindo T. Polvora and Dynasty Agricultural Corp. represented by Ester A. Lopez were also charged.
The complaint alleged that another property, which is two times bigger than the 70,000-square-meter property purchased by the city, was offered to the city at half the price of the DAC property, or only P12.87 million.
The property owned by the Moya family in Barangay Cabug was offered to city officials through Councilor Gasataya in April this year.
The property acquired by the city, which was owned by the Dynasty Agricultural Corp., was priced at P340 per square meter, for a total of P23.8 million.
Mr. Gasataya claimed that one of the complainants, Mr. Ramos merely had an ax to grind with the mayor since he was dismissed after being found guilty of an administrative offense.
He said the 16-hectare Moya property has no social acceptability because of the continuing opposition of the residents.
If the city had purchased the Moya property, they would have encountered road right-of-way problems and the sanitary landfill project would have been delayed.
"We decided to purchase the DAC property to comply with RA (Republic Act) 9003. This is the first time the city had purchased a dump site after so many years.
"It was only the Lopez (DAC) property that was given a notice to proceed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources," he added.
For his part, Mr. Leonardia said they bought the property because it passed through the appraisal committee headed by Mr. Polvora which is the competent authority to determine the legal and justifiable price.
Mr. Polvora said the property purchased by the city was not overpriced because there was valid basis for determining the price at P340 per square meter.
"We based the computation on Republic Act 8974 which provides that in expropriation and negotiated sale, the zonal valuation of the Bureau of Internal Revenue should be used as basis," Mr. Polvora said.
He said the zonal valuation of the BIR in Barangay Felisa is P400 per square meter.
However, this was reduced to P340 per square meter considering that the site is far from the Felisa proper and the property is a sunken area, he added.
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