Ex-mayor’s accusers now the accused

The accusers are now the accused.

This seems to be the case of the three employees of Puerto Princesa City Hall who have accused former Mayor Edward Hagedorn of malversation of public funds.

Hagedorn’s lawyer, Agustin Rocamora, said the three accusers were now facing perjury charges after the former mayor presented documents refuting the allegations, which were made under oath in a complaint filed in the Office of the Ombudsman.

Rocamora, in a press statement, said Puerto Princesa City Associate Prosecutor Zenaida Razon had slapped the three City Hall employees—Rodrigo Saucelo, Wilfredo Rama and Antonio Lagrada—with perjury charges for filing a spurious malversation complaint against Hagedorn.

The three claimed in the April 2015 complaint in the Ombudsman that Hagedorn illegally obtained P4 million in public funds “in spite of the absence of official receipts, vouchers or other documents” that authorized the funds.

‘Cover-up’

In their complaint, Saucelo, Rama and Lagrada—known supporters of incumbent Mayor Lucilo Bayron—attempted a “cover-up” by allegedly purchasing ghost e-vehicles “that have not been delivered to the city government up to the present time.”

Citing a portion of an audit report from the Commission on Audit (COA) for 2011, the suspects pointed to Hagedorn’s alleged illegal reimbursement of P4 million taken from the city’s funds for his own benefit.

Razon noted that the three “willfully, unlawfully and feloniously” executed a joint complaint-affidavit before the Ombudsman, accusing Hagedorn and Rocamora, then the city administrator, of irregularities. But according to the charge sheet, the suspects made the allegations under oath knowing fully well they were falsehoods. And a falsehood in a sworn statement is tantamount to perjury.

Rocamora quoted the prosecutor’s seven-page resolution, which recommended that the case be set for trial. Razon took note of Hagedorn’s evidence that included a short video showing Bayron riding in one of the questioned e-vehicles when it was delivered to City Hall, on top of the official voucher covering fund release signed by the incumbent mayor himself, to disprove allegations that the transaction was unsupported.

Hagedorn noted that on July 24, City Prosecutor Joy Olga Rabang concurred with the recommendation of Razon to proceed with the filing of the perjury case against the suspects after judicious deliberation of the evidence and arguments presented by both sides.

Instead of being the one standing trial, Hagedorn will now be called as the principal witness by the prosecution against this three accusers, Rocamora said.