Parañaque mayor, 12 other city officials face graft charges

A FORMER Barangay councilor has lodged a plunder and graft complaint against Parañaque City Mayor Edwin L. Olivarez and 12 other city officials over an alleged disadvantageous tax settlement with a group of companies in 2013. Complainant Jonathan Z. Bernardo filed the case against Mr. Olivarez, Councilors Rufino M. Allanigue, John Ryan G. Yllana, Merlies Antipuesto, Vincent Kenneth M. Favis, Florencia N. Amurao, Brillante V. Inciong, Roselle Nava-Tan, Joan Villafuerte, Maritess B. De Asis, and Jacqueline Bustamante-Mendoza, City Legal Officer Rommel A. Frias, and officer-in-charge City Treasurer Anthony L. Pulmano. Also implicated in the complaint were D.M. Wenceslao & Associates, Inc., Wendel Holdings Co., Inc., Fabricom Manufacturing Corp. and Aseana Holdings, Inc., tagged as the “Wenceslao Group” in the complaint. According to the complaint, the mayor and the city council allegedly approved a “manifestly and grossly disadvantageous” settlement with the companies wherein the city lost P453 million in real property taxes. For his part, Mr. Olivarez said he will leave the matter to the Ombudsman, but maintained that the agreement was “approved” by the Supreme Court. “We submit to the wisdom of the honorable Ombudsman on this case, but we just would like to inform the public that no less than the Honorable Supreme Court approved the compromise agreement by the parties,” Mr. Olivarez said in a text message to reporters. —