Ombudsman drops complaints vs ex-Bacolod mayor, three others

FILE PHOTO: Former Bacolod City Mayor Monico Puentevella. INQUIRER FILES

BACOLOD CITY — The Office of the Ombudsman has dismissed a criminal complaint filed in 2017 against former Bacolod Mayor Monico Puentevella and three others for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Also dismissed for lack of probable cause was an administrative case for misconduct filed against the four respondents.

Ombudsman Samuel Martires approved the case’s dismissal on December 2, 2021, and released it to the media on Tuesday, June 28.

The other respondents in the case were Jerome Solinap, then Bacolod Bids and Awards Committee chairman, Assistant City Engineer Josephus Cerna, and maintenance foreman Harry James Magbanua.

The complaints filed by Samuel Montoyo stemmed from the alleged irregularities in the 2016 procurement of a 61-seater bus with an engine that was purportedly a 1994 model instead of being brand new.

The Ombudsman’s resolution said the respondents were able to show certifications that the bus’s engine was indeed brand new based on the standards set by the Land Transportation Office of Bacolod City.

“There is no evidence on record showing that the engine is a 1994 model or was not brand new,” it added.

Puentevella said all of the cases against him by Montoyo, an ally of Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonarda, have been dismissed.

He said he would file malicious prosecution charges against Montoyo.

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