Pasig mayor shrugs off new graft case

The camp of Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto declined to give the local chief executive’s statement regarding another graft complaint that surfaced over the alleged undistributed cash allowances for Pasig City Hall employees.

In a message to DAILY TRIBUNE, the Pasig City Public Information Office said that it is still waiting for a copy of the complaint.

It also stressed that complaints can be filed by anyone.

“Anyone can file a complaint. We will wait for the official copy of the complaint before we can comment,” said the City Public Information Office.

The Pasig mayor and three other city officials were slapped with charges of graft and for violating the Government Procurement Reform Act over the alleged undistributed cash allowance.

In a 28-page complaint filed with the Office of the Ombudsman last 30 July 2024, Pasig resident Michelle Prudencio accused Sotto, Human Resources Development Office head Elvira Flores, City Administrator Jeronimo Manzanero, and Bids and Awards Committee head Josephine Bagaoisan of failing to distribute the P1,500 allowance to Pasig City Hall employees for the 451st “Araw ng Pasig” on 2 July 2024.

Instead of the cash allowance, the city hall employees were given commemorative T-shirts allegedly acquired without a proper procurement process, the complaint further stated.

The complaint also alleged that the acquisition of the T-shirts worth P17.2 million failed to undergo competitive bidding.

Sotto and two other local government officials are also facing graft and corruption charges for allegedly giving a 100 percent tax discount to a telecommunications company.

Sotto has downplayed the graft charges, saying that the complaint does mean anything as “as anyone can file a complaint.”