Pasig’s Vico Sotto notes ‘interesting timing’ of graft case

FILE PHOTO: Mayor Vico Sotto says he ordered the Business Permit and Licensing Department to padlock gambling establishments in Pasig City. INQUIRER FILES

MANILA, Philippines — Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto on Tuesday shrugged off the graft case filed against him as he noted its “interesting timing.”

“This is not the first time,” Sotto said in a statement. “Notice the interesting timing of this – at the same time that certain political groups are ramping up their political activities.”

A graft complaint, filed by a certain Ethelmart Austria Cruz who identified himself as a private citizen and Pasig resident, was filed in the Office of the Ombudsman on Aug. 7.

Cruz alleged that Sotto granted a 100-percent tax discount to a telecommunications company based in Pasig City despite supposed inconsistencies in the documents it submitted to city hall.

READ: Pasig mayor faces first graft case since 2019

Sotto declined to give further comments on the matter, saying he has yet to receive a copy of the complaint.

“It’s important to understand the process that cases go through in the Office of the Ombudsman. It’s easy to have a complaint received and then sensationalize it by bringing the ‘received’ copy to the media,” Sotto said.

“With this particular complaint, I can’t even comment because I don’t have an official copy. In some cases, the Ombudsman dismisses it outright, and we won’t even receive a copy. Other times, there will be a clarificatory hearing,” he added.

READ: Vico Sotto confronts QC protesters vs new city hall in Pasig

Also on Monday, Sotto confronted “protesters” rallying against the construction of a new Pasig City Hall – only to find out that the demonstrators were actually from Quezon City.

Sotto, however, said the “old traditional politics” and “dirty tactics” will no longer work in Pasig.

“The people will see right through it,” he said.

First elected in 2019, Sotto is currently serving his second term as Pasig City mayor. He has yet to announce if he will run for a third and final term in the 2025 midterm polls.