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MABALACAT CITY, Pampanga — Five former village chiefs have filed administrative and criminal charges for grave misconduct and graft against the mayor of Concepcion, Tarlac, and four other municipal officials over alleged irregular bidding and the awarding of contracts for furniture, air conditioners, and projects worth P81.8 million. In a complaint-affidavit filed at the Office of the Ombudsman on March 21, the complainants accused Mayor Noel Villanueva, municipal assessor Michael Bondoc, municipal accountant Reggie Bondoc, and municipal planning and development staff Brian Julius Lacsamana of serious dishonesty, grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of public service, violation of the Government Procurement Reform Act, and graft and corruption.
Villanueva is head of the municipal government’s procuring entity, while the three other officials are members of the Bids and Awards Committee. READ: Suspended Marikina mayor says graft raps ‘political persecution’ Complainants Edmond Alfonso, Mario Ysais, Nicolas Galang, Alejandro Valencia, and Eduardo Salas alleged in their affidavit that the bidding for the supply of tables, chairs, and air conditioning units for local government offices, as well as the landscaping of the new municipal government center and the landscaping, gate, and fencing of the shelter and reformation center Bale Lugud (House of Love), was conducted without proper approval from the municipal council. They said the municipal council passed an ordinance on Feb.
12 this year appropriating a P81,840,650 supplemental budget to fund the purchase of the furniture and air conditioning units, as well as the landscaping, gate, and fencing projects. The complainants noted that the ordinance was signed by Villanueva on Feb. 20 and submitted to the provincial board for review on Feb.
21. The board, however, did not act on the ordinance. According to the complainants, the ordinance would become final and executory only after 30 days of inaction by the provincial board under the Local Government Code.
Since the board received the ordinance on Feb. 21, it should have become valid only on March 31. The complainants argued that without waiting for the approval of the provincial board or the lapse of the 30-day reglementary period until March 31, the respondents immediately scheduled the pre-procurement conference on Feb.
21, the pre-bid conference on March 6, the opening of bids and bid evaluation (preliminary examination of bids) on March 20, and the post qualification on March 21 for those projects, which are funded through the subject municipal ordinance. They alleged that as early as Feb. 25, several units of tables, chairs, and air conditioners had already been delivered to the Concepcion municipal government center; that the landscaping for the same building was completed on March 13; and that the fencing and gate installation of Bale Lugud was completed on March 19.
The former village chiefs said the delivery of the furniture and air conditioners and the completion of the projects occurred before March 31, before the ordinance became final and executory. In a text message to the Inquirer on Thursday, Villanueva said he has yet to receive a copy of the complaints filed against him and the three other municipal officials. “For now, I’m waiting for a copy of the complaint and hope and pray that I will be given the opportunity to present my side and rebut the charges against me,” the mayor said.
“Obviously, the alleged case is politically motivated. My conscience is clear. I did my best to complete the project as I had promised my townmates—that the Concepcion Municipal Government Center would be blessed and inaugurated this March,” Villanueva added.
Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . Villanueva is running for re-election under the Nationalist People’s Coalition.
His lone opponent is former three-term Mayor Andy Lacson of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas..
