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Mayor, budget officer, accountant face charges for corruption
01 July 2016

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales has ordered the filing of anInformation for violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019) against Cagayan De Oro city mayor Oscar Moreno, City Budget Officer Percy Salazar and City Accountant Beda Joy Elot.  The graft charges emanated from the lease contract that Moreno illegaly entered into in 2013 to house its “Sports Development Program for Professional and Amateur Boxing.”

Records disclose that the city disbursed a total of P175,000.00 in rental payments for the lease contract that was entered into without prior authority from its Sangguniang Panglungsod.

According to Ombudsman Morales, “Moreno did not secure authority from the SP CDO before entering into a contract in blatant disregard of the provisions of the Local Government Code [Republic Act no. 7160].”

Under Section 3(e) of R.A. No. 3019, public officials are prohibited from causing any undue injury to any party, including the Government, or giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence.

In the related administrative case, Moreno, Salazar and Elot were also found guilty of Simple Misconduct and were ordered suspended from office for three months without pay.   The Ombudsman directed the Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government to implement the decision.

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