Last April 8, 2010, graft and corruption charges were filed against Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, placing him once again under public scrutiny. Lim allegedly conspired with other Manila officials to a non-existent affair and falsified receipts, which is said to have cost the city of Manila P221, 250.00. Reynaldo L. Bagatsing, Lim's former legal adviser, was the one who filed the lawsuit. The complainant, in his affidavit, called forth for the Ombudsman to administer preventive suspension against the involved perpetrators.
Seven other Manila officials were implicated by Bagatsing in the said anomaly. The seven were Atty. Rafaelito M. Garayblas, Atty. Analyn T. Marcelo-Buan, Maria Lourdes R. Malulu, Cherry Chao, Cecilia V. Sican, Leanie S. Sanding, and Vicky R. Valientes. Accordingly, in his sworn statement, Bagatsing pointed out that Lim and the said officials' falsified the receipts issued by Angel's Burger House. The plaintiff also said that the Manila officials conspired to make it appear that the Barangay Bureau held a city wide assembly called Barangay Peace Keeping Action Team last August 27, 2009, which Bagatsing have affirmed as a non-existent affair.
In what appears to be another Manila government anomaly, Lim's former legal counsel described in detail how the illegal activity took place. Accordingly, during the reimbursement process, the officials allegedly turn in a voucher indicating that 5,500 pieces of cheeseburgers were consumed by the participants in the fabricated assembly. What truly bothered the complainant was the fact that such small burger outlet is not capable of producing 5, 500 cheeseburgers in one day, when in reality such delivery could have taken the said burger joint 15 days to complete. To further reinforce his allegations, Bagatsing was able to acquire the inspection report filed on October 19, 2009 by the officials that was certified by Cecilia V. Sican, Inspector of the City General Services Office (CGSO), which apparently demonstrated that the original receipts that are numbered 0066 and 0067 were falsified to appear as 0214 and 0215.
Due to the receipt forgeries done by the Manila officials, the sum of P221, 250.00 was obtained from the city treasurer of Manila during the reimbursement process. Hence, it is apparent that the involved Manila officials committed malversation and falsification or articles 217 and 171 of the revised penal code respectively. Likewise, involved officials in this alleged Manila government anomaly failed to adhere to the required bidding process, making them liable for the violation of Section 367 of Republic Act. No. 7160 (R.A. 7160). Section 367 of R.A. 7160 stipulates that procurement of any supplies by all the local units of Manila area must not exceed to P150, 000.00 in any one month, which apparently was not followed by the involved officials.
Mayor Alfredo Lim was included in Bagatsing's lawsuit because he was represented by his secretary Rafaelito Garayblas. Garayblas notably signed the falsified documents with Lim's consent, which in turn gives the Manila officials the permission to facilitate the anomalous activities. Lim may not have directly signed the said documents, but it must be taken into account that the authorization of his secretary also means that he unscrupulous act was done with his consent. On a similar note, considering that Garayblas is Lim's secretary, it is then agreeable that he was informed about the transaction in the first place.
As election is already near, no person running for office would want their names to be involved in an unscrupulous activity. Considering that Mayor Alfredo Lim has long been a part of Manila's local government, this just means that the people trust his leadership. However, this fraudulent transaction that he and his colleagues are allegedly involved with is a clear manifestation of betrayal of the public's trust. It is therefore an imperative for these officials to clarify this issue so as not to tarnish the reputations that they have taken care off for a long time.
Mayor Alfredo Lim and some of his allies are facing graft charges for violating the falsification and malversation law after they allegedly conspire to forge receipts from Angel's Burger House to procure government funds. Reynaldo Bagatsing presented several evidences against this Manila government anomaly, and called for the Ombudsman to place the officials under preventive suspension. Lim was involved in the lawsuit, as he was represented by his secretary Rafaelito Garayblas, who signed the false documents with his consent.
-Julius Arante
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