TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The Office of the President gaves Mayor Darwin Estrañero more time to submit his sworn statement on the charges of alleged violation of the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practice Act that stemmed from the alleged overpriced purchase by the city government of 3 parcels of land in Barangay Laya West amounting to P46.7 million.
In his letter to John Dulawen A. Ya-o, the authorized represented of Mayor Estrañero, dated February 24, 2020, Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs Ryan Alvin Acosta gave the concerned local chief executive his final chance to file his verified answer within 10 days from receipt of the same for the appreciation of the office.
Earlier, Ya-o inquired from the Office of the President about the status of the complaint filed by Vice Mayor Bernard Glenn M. Dao-as against the Tabuk City Mayor for alleged violation of RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Acosta disclosed that the said complaint was docketed as OP-DC Case No. 19-K-057 entitled ‘Vice Mayor Bernard Glenn M. Dao-as v. Mayor Darwin C. Estrañero.’
The Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs noted that Ya-o submitted a special power of attorney (SPA) executed by the City Mayor in his favor granting him authority to make the foregoing inquiry, as well as to request and receive documents related to the aforesaid administrative case, thus, on the basis of such SPA, Ya-o also filed a motion for clarification and for extension of time to file answer dated January 22, 2020, requesting a copy of the complaint and praying for an extension of 15 days to file a verified answer.
Acosta claimed that based on records of the office, a copy of the supposed complaint was attached to the order issued on January 6, 2020 but nonetheless, the office has attached a copy of the requested document for perusal.
For his part, Mayor Estrañero admitted having received the earlier order but the same no longer had the attached complaint that was supposed to be answered, thus, the filing of the appropriate motion for him to know the charges that were filed against him.
However, he pointed out that the administrative case filed against him before the Office of the President is similar to the case that was also filed against him before the Office of the Ombudsman, the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) where there were already initial investigations that had been done by the NBI on the matter.
The local chief executive argued that it is unfortunate that there are some interest groups in the city that are trying to mess up the issue so that immigrants will be fighting against each other which is not actually good in depicting a better image of the city from the perception of prospective investors wanting to contribute in the overall efforts of making Tabuk as one of the progressive cities in the north.
Estrañero stipulated that there are already established jurisprudence stating among others that the action of local chief executives on matters that have been recommended by established bodies like the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) , appraisal committee among others will be considered as ministerial and that those responsible for such acts are those that have been directly involved in the decision-making processes. By Hent