Graft complaint vs Morato, Belmonte ‘political harassment’

The youngest son of Quezon City’s first mayor Tomas Morato dismissed yesterday as political harassment the graft case filed against him and Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte before the Office of the Ombudsman over a contested property.

Jose Morato of JLM Trading Inc. decried the timing of the filing of the case as “politically motivated.”

He slammed his siblings led by Manuel “Manoling” Morato for playing into election-related propaganda.

“It is a politically motivated case. A lot of people want to get involved in politics now because of the elections,” Morato said.

He said he has yet to receive a copy of the complaint filed before the ombudsman by Manuel along with Elvira Morato-Cuenca, Teresita Morato-Lazatin and Lolita Morato-Quiros.

“During elections, the ombudsman gets cases like this. This is definitely a harassment suit,” Morato, who was active in the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections for several years, said.

Also charged were Belmonte’s brothers Jaime Miguel, Juan Kevin and Feliciano Isaac as well as Liberato Robles and Exequiel Robles of Sta. Lucia Land Inc.

The contested property consists of a house and lot located along Gandia street in Quezon City.

The complainants alleged that Morato entered into a joint venture with the Belmontes and Sta. Lucia Land to build a 21-story building on the property without their knowledge.

They claimed that the vice mayor gave a “special permit” for the construction.

Morato maintained that the graft case was rehashed, saying a complaint for syndicated estafa filed by the same complainants was dismissed in November last year.

In a resolution dated Nov. 13, 2018, the city prosecutor’s office said, “The evidence on record clearly failed to establish that there is a probable cause to file a case of syndicated estafa against the respondents.”