Ex-mayor banned for life for town’s loan default

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales has disqualified for life a former mayor in Maguindanao province from seeking public office again for defaulting on a 30-million peso  loan reportedly after the town was hit by a series of typhoons in 2012.

Former mayor Hadji Nasser Imam of Matanog, Maguindanao, who is no longer an incumbent official, has been belatedly dismissed from service for grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.

Unpaid P50M

Imam is to be meted the other administrative penalties, including perpetual disqualification from public office and the forfeiture of his retirement benefits.

Morales said Imam was at fault when in September 2011, the municipal government started defaulting on its obligation to pay the loan it took out from the Philippine Postal Savings Bank Inc.

The loan, released in December 2010, was meant to finance a 28-kilometer farm-to-market road project.

The unpaid amount eventually ballooned to P50,038,922 due to interest and penalty charges.

Rehab priority

Imam had argued that the municipal government defaulted because it had to prioritize the rehabilitation of their town first and meet the needs of its constituents after a typhoon hit them in 2012.

Morales however said there was “no documentary evidence to prove that the municipal funds intended to service the loan amortization in 2012 were realigned and disbursed for calamity-related rehabilitation projects.”

She said records showed the disasters struck before the municipal government started defaulting in the loan payments.

Meanwhile, the Ombudsman also indicted a former mayor of San Policarpio, Eastern Samar, for illegally dismissing three municipal employees.

Now Vice Mayor Conrado Nicart III will be charged with graft for delaying the reinstatement of the three employees despite an order from the Civil Service Commission, which found they were summarily fired without basis.

“The non-issuance of a return-to-work order and the delayed reinstatement of the complainants by the respondent only succeeded to manifest his partiality against them,” Morales said.