Marcoleta asks Ombudsman to take action vs San Simon mayor

Sagip Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta. PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK

MANILA, Philippines — Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta has asked the Office of the Ombudsman to act on complaints against San Simon Mayor Abundio Punsalan Jr. amid the House of Representatives panel’s probe into allegedly anomalous land transactions involving local government officials.

Marcoleta said he hopes the Office of the Ombudsman can attend the hearings so that it can obtain the evidence it needs, as Punsalan was acquitted in a previous resolution.

“I want the Ombudsman to be present so that they can see several tracks of evidence that they want. We will show it to them. It’s a good thing that they said that they would reconsider [the resolution],” Marcoleta said in Filipino on Tuesday.

“I appealed to them, that they should be present so that they can see the evidence, and now that they have committed, I want to know if they will now move. I asked them, what is your threshold? How many sets of documents do you want for you to file the case in court yourself?” he added.

The House Committee on Public Accounts on Wednesday discussed House Resolution No. 1503 filed by Senior Citizens party-list Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes, seeking to probe the following issues raised against Punsalan:

• allegations of reclassifying agricultural land to commercial use without submitting the documents required to the municipal council
• allegations of canceling a bridge project arbitrarily without canceling the signed contract first
• allegations of illegal use of public funds for purchasing parcels of land under questionable titles supposedly meant to expand the municipal hall
• allegations of collecting fees from a corporation doing business in San Simon using a fake resolution
• allegations of signing a closure order that stopped the construction of a substation of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines

READ: House to deepen probe into allegedly anomalous land deals 

During the hearing, Punsalan and a certain Loreto Santos were cited for contempt for lying to the committee after Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop made the motion.

Santos is the mayor’s alleged aid, and he is reportedly attending meetings on Punsalan’s behalf.

Marcoleta said the House panel will continue investigating Punsalan, who was recently slapped with a fourth preventive suspension.

Punsalan was again placed on preventive suspension on June 18 after the Office of the Governor of Pampanga released another order for a 60-day suspension for anomalies involving issuing a mayor’s permit to a company supposedly violating environmental laws.

“I have been telling the [Office of the] Ombudsman that in their charter, it is stated that the removal of the official depends on the appreciation of the mitigating or aggravating circumstances. What are you waiting for? He has been suspended several times now,” Marcoleta said in Filipino.