MANILA, Philippines – Hiniling ni Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta sa Office of the Ombudsman na aksyunan na ang reklamo laban kay San Simon Mayor Abundio Punsalan Jr. kasabay ng imbestigasyon ng Kamara sa maanomalyang transaksyon sa lupa sangkot ang iba pang opisyal ng local na pamahalaan.
Ani Marcoleta, umaasa siyang dadalo ang Office of the Ombudsman sa mga pagdinig upang makuha nito ang mga ebidensyang kinakailangan.
“I want the Ombudsman to be present so that they can see several tracks of evidence that they want. We will show it to them. It’s a good thing that they said that they would reconsider [the resolution],” sinabi ni Marcoleta nitong Martes, Hunyo 25.
“I appealed to them, that they should be present so that they can see the evidence, and now that they have committed, I want to know if they will now move. I asked them, what is your threshold? How many sets of documents do you want for you to file the case in court yourself?” dagdag niya.
Nitong Miyerkules ay tinalakay ng House Committee on Public Accounts ang House Resolution No. 1503 na inihain ni Senior Citizens party-list Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes, na nananawagan na imbestigahan ang mga isyu na inihain laban kay Punsalan.
Ito ay ang “allegations of reclassifying agricultural land to commercial use without submitting the documents required to the municipal council, allegations of canceling a bridge project arbitrarily without canceling the signed contract first, allegations of illegal use of public funds for purchasing parcels of land under questionable titles supposedly meant to expand the municipal hall
allegations of collecting fees from a corporation doing business in San Simon using a fake resolution, at allegations of signing a closure order that stopped the construction of a substation of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.”
Sa naturang pagdinig, kinastigo ng Kamara si Punsalan at isa pang Loreto Santos dahil sa pagsisinungaling sa komite.
Si Santos ang umano’y aid ng alkalde na makailang-ulit na dumalo sa mga pagpupulong para kay Punsalan.
Ayon kay Marcoleta, patuloy na iimbestigahan ng house panel si Punsalan na kamakailan lamang ay pinatawan na naman ng ikaapat na preventive suspension.
Noong Hunyo 18 ay inilagay si Punsalan sa preventive suspension matapos na maglabas ang Office of the Governor ng Pampanga ng panibagong kautusan para sa 60-day suspension dahil sa mga anomalya sangkot ang pag-iisyu ng mayor’s permit para sa isang kompanya na lumalabag umano sa environmental laws.
“I have been telling the [Office of the] Ombudsman that in their charter, it is stated that the removal of the official depends on the appreciation of the mitigating or aggravating circumstances. What are you waiting for? He has been suspended several times now,” ani Marcoleta. RNT/JGC
