Party list expels own rep in House, charges him with graft
Ating Koop party-list Rep. Isidro Lico. congress.gov.ph
MANILA, Philippines–His own party mates on Tuesday charged former Ating Koop party-list Rep. Isidro Lico with a P75-million graft and malversation case in the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB).
In the complaint, Ating Koop, represented by Sibayan Lumbos and Associates Law Office, included Lico’s alleged coconspirators who acted either as “bagmen or facilitators” for kickbacks from projects funded by Lico’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel when he served in the 15th Congress.
The co-respondents were Reynaldo Golo, Lico’s liaison officer; David Serrano Jr., the municipal assessor and budget officer of Sta. Elena, Camarines Norte; Alex Nuñag; and a “Jane Doe” who assumed the name Charlene Lizen and who was allegedly endorsed by Lico to collect his kickbacks from dubious projects of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos that were financed with his PDAF.
The Adhikaing Tinataguyod ang Kooperatiba, or Ating Koop, is an organization of different cooperatives whose main objective is to promulgate the advocacies of the cooperative sector in the country, according to its website.
The complainants led by Federico Pineda, Ating Koop’s new first nominee, lawyers Pete Principe and Francisco Sibayan, and Yasser Lumbos said the P75 million comprised P40 million received from hard projects, P25 million from soft projects and P10 million that was unearthed by the Commission on Audit.
They presented evidence to show that the respondents “engaged the party in some activities outside of its limited concern, all with the intent to make money from the public funds allocated to our office in the House of Representatives.”
“It is the moral obligation of the party to make it known to the public some scores pertinent to public funds so much so that the (Janet Lim) Napoles scandal is really just the tip of the iceberg,” Pineda said.
The complaint said Lico assumed office in January 2011 at a salary of P56,000 a month. But after three months, Lico through PSBank was able to purchase a new Toyota Fortuner SUV for his personal use at a monthly amortization of P96,643 as shown on a promissory note he executed.
To pay the monthly installment, Lico allegedly took P44,546.42 from the party-list group’s congressional allocation of P376,074.58 per month.
In April 2011, Lico bought another vehicle, a new Isuzu Sportivo AUV. The complaint said the payments were taken from his “kickbacks” from a P10-million project from the Road Users Tax in 2011 and 2012.
The complaint said the money was advanced by contractors endorsed by his two “bagmen” identified as Golo and Nuñag.
In 2012, Lico bought yet another new vehicle, a Toyota Innova, under his name but which was used as a service vehicle by Golo and Nuñag.
The complaint said Lico got the money to pay for the Innova from his P10-million soft allocation to a fake nongovernment organization allegedly owned by Godofredo Roque.–Cynthia D. Balana
