P106-M plunder case filed vs Bautista


A PLUNDER case involving more than P106 million worth of public funds allegedly used on questionable food purchases was filed on Wednesday against Quezon City Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista before the Ombudsman.

Complainant Nicanor Royo Salameda of Payatas, Quezon City, asked the Ombudsman to prosecute Bautista for the alleged misuse of millions of government funds that should have been allocated for poverty-alleviation programs.

Included in the complaint was Quezon City Administrative Officer Ligaya Montallana who, according to Salameda, conspired with the former comedian in making the questionable transactions.

“So many lives of poor individuals like me could have been saved from poverty and death if the said millions of funds were used to improve our plight. But what did Bautista do with the more than P106-million fund of his office?” Salameda said.

In his complaint, Salameda claimed Bautista used P106,255.017 from the fund of the Office of the Vice Mayor for food purchases in 2009. Salameda said he discovered the purchases from documents obtained from the Records of Deposits, Disbursements and Checks of Quezon City for 2009.

He said it was clear that the food purchases did not undergo the necessary bidding procedures as required by law. The complainant said there were even instances when Bautista circumvented the law to avoid the bidding.

‘Same old stale, dull yarn’
LP Quezon City mayoral candidate Herbert “Bistek” Bautista, however, dismissed the complaint filed against him as nothing more than an act of desperate political gimmickry hatched by the camp of Mike Defensor.

“Mike, whatever desperate act you or your proxies do, you will not change the fact that the Liberal Party will defeat you and other administration candidates by a landslide in Quezon City,” Bautista said following the filing of another 15-page complaint before the Ombudsman by Salameda.

“Perhaps the person behind this, who is known for his mastery of deceit, should abandon the same old stale, dirty tactics,” said Bautista.

“I urge Mr. Defensor to instead come cleanly in the scandals involving billions of state funds during his stint in Malacañang instead of dreaming up ways to catch attention. This is a tired old issue that they are trying to resurrect. Since Day One, this has been the strategy of the Arroyo administration’s dirty-tricks department. We are actually quite pleased that they have finally brought this matter before the proper forum,” Bautista said.

Bautista stressed that the complaint will not derail his focus on the campaign as he shrugged off these ridiculous never-ending accusations against him, saying his lawyers have anticipated the latest move of his political opponents months ago.

“We have nothing to hide, so let the matter take its due course. We will just wait for the resolution. It is rather sad that while our campaign is centered on programs for development, our rivals would rather feed the people of Quezon City trash politics,” he said.