GOLEZ
ILOILO CITY — The Office of the Ombudsman junked the graft and falsification complaints against Vice Mayor Ronaldo “Onal” Golez and seven others of the local government unit (LGU) of Dumangas town in Iloilo province over alleged anomalous purchases of heavy construction equipment and generator worth around P50 million.
The Ombudsman-Visayas resolution dated Sept. 27, 2024 and only released publicly this week found no probable cause for alleged violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the other administration raps.
“No evident bad faith that can be found, no dishonest purpose, moral obliquity, or fraudulent intent that could be found in the actions taken by public respondents,” the Ombudsman’s resolution said.
The Ombudsman also junked the complaints against respondents and municipal government employees Jose Vahn Diasnes Cordova, Saul Dolendo Deasis, Nelson Delector Belandres, Roqueta Alipat Dianson, Eugenio Demonteverde Decastillo Jr., and Arande Demaisip Detablan.
The National Bureau of Investigation-6 filed the complaints when Golez was the mayor.
The NBI accused Dumangas LGU of making the purchases despite being overpriced by around 13 percent in 2019.
The NBI also flagged Dumangas LGU for allegedly manipulating price quotations when it was made in Cebu and not in Iloilo.
The NBI claimed Dumangas LGU falsified procurement papers for supplier Aavantrac Heavy Machinery Inc. despite the supplier did not pass bidding requirements.
The P50-million fund used for the purchase was part of a P150-million loan secured by Dumangas LGU from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).