Palace urged to act on corruption raps vs mayor
A resident of Ayungon town in Negros Oriental has asked the Office of the President to expedite action and disposition of the corruption cases against Mayor Edsel Enardecido.
A certain Luzviminda Gonzalez — in a letter dated August 13, 2018 and duly notarized by Cebu-based lawyer Grace Rocamora-Cabrales — has brought the matter to President Rodrigo Duterte through registered mail and copy furnished to the media.
“We write you in the spirit and interest of transparency and good governance in Ayungon town in Negros Oriental. I am encouraged by your strong stance to wipe out corruption in all levels of your administration including local government units,” Gonzalez said.
Enclosed in the letter to the president is a letter complaint, dated October 23 last year, which was filed by Cebu businessman Mark Yu.
Gonzalez said she just went to Cebu City for the past few days to secure a copy of the case of which she claimed she is affected as a resident of Ayungon town.
She explained that, as a constituent of Ayungon town, she is interested in knowing what action had the Office of the President taken on this complaint citing her right to expeditious action and speedy disposition of the case as provided for under Section 16, Article 3 of the 1987 Constitution.
“Although I am an ordinary citizen from Ayungon, I know this case opens a can of worms that would expose the full extent of the nefarious activities of Mayor Edsel G. Enardecido of Ayungon, Negros Oriental,” she further claimed.
Yu of Cebu City, president of Pilipinas Eco-Friendly Mining Corporation (PEMC), and Rodien Paca of Naga City in Cebu, managing director of Logistics and Technological Solutions Inc. (PLTSI) last year filed cases against Mayor Enardecido for robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons, as well as grave misconduct and oppression.
PEMC also filed a case against the mayor’s son, Keith B. Enardecido, who operates a trucking business engaged in hauling silica from the mining operations.
The cases stemmed from an incident on April 7, last year when the trucks of PLTSI, which has a contract with PEMC to extract and haul silica from the quarry site in Ayungon, were not allowed to enter the Looc Port.
Paca alleged that he received a text message from his site manager Elfe Almaro that Mayor Enardecido ordered the port gate padlocked, thus denying entry of PLTSI’s dump trucks.
There were allegations also that Enardecido “demanded incentives from Yu, through text,” which the mayor however said was the same given by the hauling services of KBE, a corporation owned by his son Keith.
In an article published last year by The FREEMAN, the mayor clarified that the town’s port gate was already opened before the filing of the charges against him at the Ombudsman.
Filed sometime last year, the cases however are still pending for preliminary investigation at the Office of the Visayas Ombudsman until now. And the delay in deciding these cases is seen by the complainants as having emboldened Mayor Enardecido more to go after mining firms in his town.
On July 26, Mayor Enardecido issued a closure order against Good Yield Resources Development Inc. (GRDI), located at Looc, Tampucon 1, of Ayungon.
The FREEMAN has so far failed in its efforts to get the side of the mayor on this matter.