CAGAYAN de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno and City Treasurer’s Office officer-in-charge Glenn Bañez, are set to face trial before the Sandiganbayan for violation of Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
In a statement dated Wednesday, October 5, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said she has found probable cause to charge the two city officials before the anti-graft court for unlawfully entering into an agreement with Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation involving the settlement of the company’s tax liabilities in 2014.
The statement said the Ombudsman found in 2013, Bañez issued a Notice of Assessment to Ajinomoto covering its 2006 to 2012 tax deficiency of P2.9 million and in the following year, the City Government entered into a settlement agreement with waiver, release and quitclaim accepting the company's offer of P300,000 as full settlement of its local tax deficiency.
The agreement was made in exchange for Ajinomoto's withdrawal of the civil case it filed before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Misamis Oriental.
In his defense, Bañez claimed that the agreement was entered into since “there was no guarantee that it will win the case in RTC and that the case might drag all the way to the Supreme Court.”
Morales, however, gave no credence to Bañez's claim, saying “Moreno and Bañez gave Ajinomoto unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference when they entered into the agreement with the latter without the required authorization from the City Council.”
The Ombudsman had ordered both Moreno and Bañez dismissed last November 5 as an administrative penalty for the same offense but both city officials asked the Ombudsman to reconsider its decision.
Moreno and Banez also asked the Court of Appeals to issue a temporary restraining order and a writ of preliminary injunction to maintain the status quo while the case is still being resolved by the Ombudsman.
But in June this year, the Ombudsman denied Moreno's motion saying “the approval of the agreement by the court cannot, in any way, legitimize the acts of Moreno.”
Moreno's camp again filed on the same month a motion for reconsideration before the Appellate court.
In yet another case, the Office of the Ombudsman also ordered the filing of graft charges against Moreno and two other officials over their alleged roles in the supposed anomalous lease contract for the implementation of the City Government’s boxing program.
In a resolution signed by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, it said there is probable to charge Moreno before the Sandiganbayan with one count of violation of Section 3 of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Also ordered charged with the same offense were City Budget Officer Percy Salazar and City Accountant Beda Joy Elot.
The Ombudsman also found the three officials guilty of administrative offense of simple misconduct and were ordered suspended for three months without pay.
Moreno, Elot, and Salazar, however, were likewise able to secure a 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) against the implementation of the order.
The TRO expired October 4.
In a statement signed by Department of the Interior and Local Government(DILG)-Northern Mindanao Regional Director Arnel Agabe, said its office is “now posed with the legal and factual issues anent the three-month suspension order, with the reported and observed lapse of the 60 day period of enjoining the service of the Ombudsman decision by the issued temporary restraining order.”
Agabe said its office is presently seeking comments and guidance, through a letter-request dated October 5, to the Court of Appeals, particularly the Special 22nd Division who previously granted Moreno's camp the TRO, and the DILG Central Office.
"We are seeking for an advise and direction on what proper course of action this Office has to immediately undertake under present circumstances," Agabe said.
