A guard secures the gated area used by Manila Seedling Bank Foundation, in this file photo taken on July 10, 2012, after the property was seized by the Quezon City government.—MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
State prosecutors have formally charged the former treasurer of Quezon City with graft for allegedly causing undue injury on Manila Seedling Bank Foundation Inc. (MSBFI) when he ordered it to pay real property taxes amounting to P42.8 million.
In February last year, the Office of the Ombudsman ordered Edgar Villanueva dismissed and banned from public office after he was found administratively liable for oppression in connection with same act against MSBFI.
The case filed in the Sandiganbayan stemmed from Villanueva’s issuance o a notice of delinquency to MSBFI on May 2011, ordering it to pay P42.8 million in back taxes. The foundation was then occupying a seven-hectare government property at the corner of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue and Quezon Avenue.
But prosecutors said the tax enforcement was ordered without a prior notice of assessment, noting that an earlier enforcement was nullified for lacking the same requirement.
When MSBFI failed to pay, Villanueva levied the property in July 2012, allowing the city government to seize the lot and auction it off to compensate for the unpaid taxes.
Prosecutors found this irregular, noting that the MSBFI possessed a usufruct or a right to use the property, which is titled under the National Housing Authority (NHA), based on Presidential Proclamation No. 1670, series of 1977.
They maintained that NHA properties are “exempt from levy” due to its tax-exempt status.
Villanueva was charged with violating the antigraft law for “willfully, unlawfully and criminally” causing undue injury to MSBFI, after the foundation was deprived of monthly rental income of P783,083.80 and average gross monthly sales of P1.02 million.
The charge sheet, signed by Assistant Special Prosecutor Loreto Cunanan, recommended bail at P30,000.
MSBFI president Leonardo Ligeralde, who initiated the complaint in the Ombudsman, is set to be presented as one of the prosecution witnesses.
The Ombudsman did not press charges against the other officials named in Ligeralde’s complaint, namely Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, then city administrator (now senior adviser) Victor Endriga, city real estate division chief Jason Labao, public order and safety chief Elmo San Diego, former Quezon City Police District director Mario de la Vega, and former NHA general manager Chito Cruz.