Graft raps lodged vs Pampanga mayors for sale of seized pigs

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency National Capital Region Regional Director Wilkins Villanueva at the Office of the Ombudsman. VINCE F. NONATO/PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has filed a graft complaint at the Office of the Ombudsman against two Pampanga mayors for the sale of 4,038 hogs confiscated from an alleged shabu laboratory in September.

Named respondents in the PDEA’s 10-page complaint were Magalang Mayor Maria Lourdes Lacson and Bacolor Mayor Jose Maria Hizon, son of prominent businesswoman Lolita Hizon of the popular Pampanga’s Best processed meats.

The municipal government of Magalang sold the confiscated pigs for P7 million without any legal basis or court disposition, the PDEA alleged.

Hizon, who represented Pampanga’s Best, was the only participant who submitted an offer for the hogs.

The PDEA noted that the pigs were owned by private individuals and not the municipality of Magalang.

The hogs were confiscated by the PDEA during a raid at Jeowang Farm on Sept. 7 that yielded a fully equipped underground shabu laboratory and led to the arrest of seven Chinese nationals./rga

Copy of the complaint against Pampanga mayors Lourdes Lacson and Jose Maria Hizon. VINCE NONATO/PHILIPPINE DAILY /INQUIRER