Magalong claims death threat after exposing corruption

BAGUIO CITY — Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong confirmed Tuesday that he has received a death threat following his claims of corruption involving the use of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) 2025 as an election fund.

In an interview with members of the Baguio media on Tuesday, the mayor alleged that the GAA 2025 is being maneuvered into election funds.

He claimed that only a few lawmakers agreed among themselves to change the entire bicameral committee report on the National Expenditure Program (NEP). "Angkakapal talaga ng mukha nila...," he stressed in the interview.

Magalong disclosed that he sought help from former National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) Chair Allen Capuyan to confirm any death threats against him. The mayor said Capuyan responded, confirming that there is indeed a death threat against Magalong.

Capuyan, a former head of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), is currently under investigation for allegations of corruption.

He is said to have been involved in the anomalous P7-million worth of coffee table books and the commission's solicitation of funds from mining companies.

Capuyan has also been slapped with an administrative case, along with former NCIP Cordillera Commissioner Gaspar Cayat, before the Office of the Ombudsman for falsifying FPIC documents for the operations of National Cement Corporation/San Miguel Northern Cement Inc. (NCC/SMNCI) in Bag-o’s ancestral land in Pangasinan.

Magalong, a retired chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), said he is not afraid of any threat as he is used to facing battles. What he worries about, he said, is the safety of his family.

Meanwhile, Malacañang Palace dared Magalong to show proof of his claims that the GAA 2025 is being used as election funds.