Olongapo mayor hurdles graft case

OLONGAPO CITY, Zambales — Mayor Rolen Paulino, along with ten other city officials, was cleared recently by the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) of graft charges filed against them in 2015 due to lack of probable cause and evidence.

A case filed by Rosalio Abile against Paulino and Councilors Randy Sionzon, Edna Elane, Egmidio Gonzales Jr., Aureuela Bundang-Ortiz, Benjamin Cajudo II, Noel Atienza, Elena Dabu, Emerito Linus Bacay, Eduardo Guerrero and Aquilino Cortez Jr. was junked recently by the OMB.

Abile claimed that the local government unit of Olongapo went into a “fraudulent agreement” with the operator of a Christmas Bazaar. He said that there was no bidding done for the operation of the night bazaar, adding that the operator BEZ is unqualified for the operation of the 2014 to 2015 night bazaar.

Paulino said that there really was no need for a public bidding for the project since it did not involve any sales or procurement of goods or hiring of professional and technical services. He added that his administration adheres to its motto of “Transparency and Good Governance.”

“The city government earned 14 million from that night market, why would anyone want to stop the income generation of the city? Before my term as mayor, the night bazaar would only generate around 11 million,” he added.

DOUBLE HAPPINESS — Olongapo City Mayor Rolen Paulino happily show off his drug test result that turned out negative of illegal drugs at his office last Monday. His smile here has not been erased till yesterday when he and 10 other city officials were...