Women of ‘San-Lo Ville’ battle graft in barangay

UNCERTAIN LIGHT The allegedly graft-ridden purchase of this and dozens of other lampposts in San Lorenzo, Makati City, is pitting a group of residents against a former village chair planning to run again in the Oct. 28 barangay elections. NIÑA CALLEJA

For the women of one of the country’s most affluent communities, the fight against corruption can begin right in the neighborhood.

Eleven women—mostly senior citizens and retired professionals—form the list of complainants against a former barangay chair of San Lorenzo Village, Makati City, in a P44-million case which the Office of the Ombudsman recently approved for filing in the local court.

The antigraft agency has found probable cause to file malversation and corruption charges against Joshua John Santiago.

The resolution stemmed from a complaint filed in 2010 by the San Lorenzo residents over Santiago’s purchase of 1,200 lamppost costing P36,000 each.

They claimed that the lampposts—supposedly meant to replace those damaged by Typhoon “Milenyo” in 2006—were overpriced and that the village had no need for half of them.

The complainants were Maria Luisa Tañada (daughter-in-law of the late Sen. Lorenzo Tañada), Maria Luisa Chikiamco, Marilyn Mayoralgo, Marlene Po, Katherine Palomera, Estelita Crisostomo, Aida Aragon, Felicidad Recto, Victoria Villacorta, Beatriz Domingo, and Carmina Ortega.

The resolution was issued on June 17. The charges, however, are yet to be filed in the Makati Regional Trial Court.

According to the resolution, which was signed and approved by Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro, Santiago made a purchase request for  lampposts worth P43.9 million “without regard for the actual needs of the barangay, knowing that the purchase exceeded the requirements of the barangay.”

Santiago issued a purchase order on Dec. 27, 2006, in favor of Cenit Lighting Philippines Inc. a day before the local bids and awards committee issued an approval, it further noted.

“Indeed, it is highly irregular that respondent Santiago would already issue a purchase order without the BAC having finished the bidding process,” it said.

Santiago decided to push through with the project despite a December 2006 letter from the Makati Commercial Estate Association telling him that it was not accepting the offer of Barangay San Lorenzo to replace existing lampposts in Legaspi VIllage.

An “excess” of 487 lampposts remains in storage in a warehouse to this day, for which Barangay San Lorenzo pays a monthly rent of P40,000.

In a statement sent to the Inquirer on Friday, Santiago said he was “surprised to learn” about the case and accused the incumbent chair, Ernesto Moya, of being behind the “rehashed” issue.

The 37-year-old Santiago said he would seek another term as village chair and challenge Moya in the Oct. 28 barangay elections. Moya unseated him in 2010.

“Countless people in the San Lorenzo community have warned me about his (Moya’s) penchant for dirty politics, but I never imagined that his camp would resort to such an underhanded maneuver,” he said.

“I have since been fully cleared by Malacañang regarding these baseless accusations,” he said. “I appeal to Ernesto Moya to give the good people of Barangay San Lorenzo a free hand in choosing their leaders based on their merits, platform, and action plan. Please spare the community from mudslinging and unethical tactics, as they deserve much better than that.”

Reached for comment, Moya said: “That case was an independent action of the women of San Lorenzo. All they have said in the complaint are factual. This is his own doing.”

The Ombudsman dismissed the graft complaint against the other respondents—then barangay treasurer Rosa Maria Malano and Cenit president Benjamin Calubad—for lack of evidence.