BAGUIO CITY — A member of the Baguio City Council has filed a case before the Office of the Ombudsman against Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong for allegedly violating RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices and RA 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards.

The charges — filed on 20 December 2023 — stemmed from the purchase of a lot in SitioTopinao, Poblacion, Tuba, Benguet.

According to Mylene Yaranon, the City Council approved a P120 million from the General Funds to be utilized under the "land banking" of the city government and stressed that there was no mentioning of buying a lot in Sitio Topinao in the documents they approved.

On 23 March 2023, Magalong wrote a request letter to the City Council asking him to be authorized to represent Baguio City to enter into a Deed of Absolute Sale for the lot in Sitio Topinao being offered by a certain William Tan and his daughter. The said lot was priced at P1,500 per square meter.

The local government bought the lot for P95,377,000.

Yaranon claimed that the City Council did not approved any ordinance allowing the mayor for the said Deed of Absolute Sale, adding that Magalong still persisted in signing the deed and allowed that the local government to pay the lot in full even if the seller is willing to a 50 percent down payment and the remaining 50 percent balance be paid in 24 equal monthly installments.

The lady councilor said the mayor committed a Grave Abuse of Authority, Grave Misconduct, and Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service.

On 3 May 2023, the Baguio City Council conducted a council inquiry in Aid of Legislation inviting the City Legal Officer, City Assessor, City Planning and Development Coordinator, City Budget Officer and also the mayor to shed light on the issue.

The council found out that the purchase of the lot is not included in the five-year Development Plan of the local government and also discovered that there are other offers from other Baguio lot owners where the local government can opt to buy for housing and other purposes but were not entertained.

Yaranon added that before buying the lot in Topinao, it should have undergone a feasibility study to determine if it will be favorable to the local government. In another inquiry, there was no even seismic hazard study conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.