Opposition: ‘Jaraula should include Emano in Scantel Charge Sheet’

April 20, 2008

butch bagabuyo, bong lao, roy raagas
OPPOSITION MAPS PARALLEL MOVES VS. SCANTEL, EMANO. Opposition Atty. Rogelio Bagabuyo, City Councilor Bong Lao and Atty. Roy Raagas vowed to file their own separate charges against Scantel & former city mayor now vice-mayor Vicente Emano for the botched P49million Barangay Telephone System project.

By Lizanilla J. Amarga

CAGAYAN de Oro City Mayor Constantino Jaraula is now being challenged by the local opposition to include his predecessor former city mayor now vice-mayor Vicente Emano in the charge sheet against Supplies Contractor and Network Telecommunications Inc. (Scantel) for the failed P49 million Barangay Telephone System.

This together with City Councilor Emmanuel Abejuela who was then the city planning and development department head who defended the project before the 13^th City Council and other approving PaDayon Pilipino city councilors.

“If Jaraula is serious about having those responsible for the anomalous rural telephone contract held liable he should include Emano and others in the project,” said Atty. Roy Raagas, a former opposition city councilor and one of the complainants of the P1.4 billion plunder charges against Emano.

He also dismissed Emano’s statements on how Scantel should face legal charges in court should it fails to implement the project it promised to undertake and meet with Jaraula’s deadline.

“If Emano wants Scantel officials put to jail for not making his pet rural telephone project, he should be with them in jail as well. He approved the clearly disadvantageous contract and the payments for the project,” Raagas said.

Raagas together with opposition lawyers Atty. Frederico Gapuz and Atty. Rogelio Bagabuyo yesterday met with the three local opposition city councilors Roger Abaday, Teodulfo Lao and Zaldy Ocon to map out their own parallel moves against Scantel and those behind the telephone scam.

Meanwhile, Abaday, Lao and Ocon initially discussed the possibility of passing an ordinance to grant Jaraula more powers and to release some funds for the proper court action against Scantel.

“We just want to help Mayor Jaraula carry out his plan to file charges against Scantel and those responsible for this mess that led to the loss of P31 million from the city’s coffers,” Abaday said in the dialect.

Lao and Ocon echoed out Abaday’s words as they also pointed out that City Legal Officer former city councilor Atty. Maryanne Enteria is a signatory to the Scantel ordinance and her second in-command Atty. Mart Maandig served as the Officer-in-Charge of the same office when the project was undertaken.

For these opposition city councilors, there will be “no proper and independent” litigation against Scantel and those behind the telephone scam should the charges involve a city councilor who did not just approve but authored some of the Scantel ordinances.

Ordinance No. 8751-2003 which authorized Emano to enter into a memorandum of agreement with Scantel as represented by Engr. Edelito Badua was signed approved by city councilors Enteria, Michelle Tagarda, Edgar Cabanlas, Ian Acenas, Reynaldo Advincula, Benjamin Jose Benaldo, Annie Daba, President Elipe, Alfonso Goking, Juan Sia, Ian Mark Nacaya and the deceased Marilou Boyles last May 12, 2003.

In 2004, Enteria authored Ordinance No. 9357-2004 which authorized Emano to enter and signed a co-location agreement with Bayan Telecommunications, Inc. represented by general manager Caesar Cahoy covering installation of the Scantel’s barangay telephone equipments

Presented before the opposition group yesterday were papers that intimated how a number of documents presented by the Emano Administration in 2005 and 2006 to the Commission on Audit (COA) might not contain the accurate information for its auditors to peruse and make their recommendations upon.

This when compared to the information released in good faith by City Hall’s very own daily newsletters, local newspapers and that of the Philippine Information Agency.

The COA has complained in their Annual Audit Report 2005 and 2006 that Emano’s administration then has failed to furnished them with the complete copy of the agreement it has entered with contractors among them is Scantel for this P49 million barangay telephone system project.

However, the opposition requested that they will still verify these papers and then meet again for to discuss the next appropriate legal action.

They said should the documents be taken cognizance by the courts, it would prove that the Emano administration has been “doctoring” documents before it presents them to the COA and had been releasing bank checks even before its PaDayon dominated legislative body its nod on Emano’s actions.

CLICK HERE for the latest 2nd Hand Laptops, Mobile Phones, SMART/ GLOBE /TALK 'N TEXT/ TOUCH MOBILE / SUN CELLULAR Postpaid, Pre-paid and International Roaming PROMOS, Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific Airlines Airline AIRFARE DISCOUNT tickets for sale!

Check out our Updated/Latest List of GOVERNMENT JOBS AND OTHER GOVERNMENT VACANT POSITIONS, PRIVATE JOBS, PRIVATE FULL-TIME JOBS, PRIVATE PART-TIME JOBS and OTHER ONLINE JOBS in this link!

Written by admin · Filed Under Cagayan de Oro