3 town workers in land tax scam a no-show in probe

Balamban, Cebu—The municipal council was ready but the main suspects in the land tax scam that victimized more than 100 persons were nowhere to be found in the session hall yesterday afternoon.

Former municipal assessor Teresita “Tita” Yray resigned last July 8.

Her clerk Lucelle Agua filed an indefinite leave last week. Job-order employee Sheribeth “Sharee” Melgar did not have her contract renewed by the mayor after June 30.

All three were no longer found in their homes in Balamban, according to neighbors interviewed by Cebu Daily News yesterday.

Only upset taxpayers and a team from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Provincial Assessors attended the regular session of the Balamban council.

Councilor John Ismael Borgonia announced that Yray sent a letter through her lawyer that she can’t show up because of a pending administrative case and criminal complaint over the alleged anomaly.

The councilor said Agua and Melgar didn’t respond to invitations sent to their houses in Balamban.

After the three-hour session, many residents left the session unsatisfied and met to discuss plans to file additional charges against the three former employees.
About 12 of them went to the Visayas Ombudsman’s Office in Cebu City last week to file a complaint.

“The session did not answer our primary questions: will we be paid? And what will they do with those held responsible?” said Lando Marceliones in Cebuano.
He was among the 154 victims who attended the meeting called by the town council.

He said he lost P20,800 in payments for capital gains tax for the 2011 purchase of real property for their family’s house.

Aggrieved residents said they were duped by Yray, Agua and Melgar, who received their payments and were made to believe the money was remitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Many found out in June that their BIR Tax Deposit slips from Land Bank were not valid.

The victims called on the council to help get their money back.

Borgonia said the council “inquiry” succeeded in allowing the victims to air their grievances.

Yray’s lawyer Bernardito Florido wrote that his client cannot attend because administrative proceedings are filed against her.

“Were it not for the fact that administrative proceedings are pending at the Civil Service Commission and criminal complaint filed at the Ombudsman’s Office, she would have gladly attend your hearing per invitation,” said Florido.