Pangasinan town mayor faces raps at Ombudsman over land deal

BAYAMBANG, Pangasinan—The president of the parent-teacher association (PTA) of Bayambang Central School has asked the Office of the Ombudsman to prosecute the mayor of this town for allegedly forcing the school to transfer to a new site, which the local government acquired in a land-swap deal.

In a complaint filed on Monday, PTA president Filipinas Alcantara accused Mayor Ricardo Camacho of gross negligence when he “transferred the school with undue haste and without notice or consultation with the Department of Education (DepEd).”

She said Camacho knew fully well that the DepEd’s approval was necessary in relocating a school.

Alcantara also accused Camacho of “willfully and feloniously” entering into a land-swap deal with businessman Willy Chua—a transaction that obligated the school to relocate to the latter’s property.

“It is undeniable that as mayor of Bayambang, [Camacho] had the power to bind the municipality in the land-swap deal. In agreeing to exchange a piece of property estimated to be around P620,000,000 for a piece of property estimated to be worth a mere P150,000, the government is manifestly and grossly prejudiced by the transaction,” Alcantara said in her complaint.

Reached on Tuesday, Camacho said he had not been informed about the complaint.

“This is the first time I heard about it. I have not received any notice. I do not even know what it’s all about,” he said.

Alcantara said the DepEd’s approval must be obtained in choosing a new location for a school, which she described as a “delicate and painstaking process, with every care and precaution needed to ensure the health and safety of the children and the lives that have been built around the school.”

“The transfer, if effected, would cause Bayambang to lose out on millions of taxpayer money. Further, thousands of schoolchildren and their parents were treated as mere pawns in this extremely disadvantageous deal,” she said.

She also asked the Ombudsman to investigate private individuals who allegedly conspired with public officials in the deal “and that such private persons be tried jointly and subjected to the same penalties and liabilities as the public official.” Yolanda Sotelo, with a report from Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon