5th case filed against Caloocan mayor for misuse of P1.5B funds

MANILA, Philippines—Basketball courts located some 100 meters from each other, street lamps on a major highway with no lights.

These, among others, form the basis of a complaint of misuse of P1.5 billion in public funds filed against Caloocan Mayor Enrico Echiverri before noon on Wednesday at the Office of the Ombudsman.

The complaint was the fifth lodged by Vice Mayor Edgar Erice against the local chief executive in more than a year, prompting some quarters to think that the power struggle between Echiverri and Erice would not abate anytime soon.

“(The examples only) show the priorities of the local government. We have many other problems, schools that have to be built, roads that have to be constructed, but instead this is where the money goes,” Joni Gonzales, the vice mayor’s legal counsel, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer over the phone.

According to Gonzales, the basketball courts in Barangay (village) Maypajo were not even constructed in places where people who like to play the sport abound.

Aside from the courts, Erice told the Inquirer that the local government spent for the construction of street lamps on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, or EDSA, but these, he said, have not been fitted with lights.

Overall, Echiverri, according to the vice mayor, misused a total of P1,551,758,473.50 during the period 2006-2010.

The amount was part of the P2,124,644,527 the city council appropriated for special projects and activities, Erice said.

Aside from this, Erice also accused Echiverri of violating the Local Government Code when he allegedly spent the money without prior authorization from the city council.

Under the law, each project, if described in generic terms in the local budget, should come with a contract between the local government and the contractor that should be approved by the local legislative body.

Erice, who sits as presiding officer of the city council, said that no such authority was granted to Echiverri to enter into any such contracts.

The Inquirer tried to get the side of Echiverri, but calls to his phone went unanswered.

In an interview, Leuterio Nicolas, chief public information officer, said that Echiverri’s camp would release a statement as soon as they receive a copy of the complaint.