Laguna governor faces graft complaint

Laguna Governor Sol Aragones and several provincial officials face an anti-graft complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman over alleged financial irregularities in the provincial government’s Civil Service Review Program.

Laguna Board Member Lorenzo Zuñiga Jr. personally filed the complaint Monday at the Ombudsman headquarters, joined by fellow Board Members Karla Adajar and Princess Lajara, and Calamba City Councilor Niño Lajara.

The suit alleges violations of Sections 3(e) and 3(g) of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibit public officers from causing undue injury to the government or entering into grossly disadvantageous contracts.

Central to the complaint is the allocation of P15,500 per beneficiary under the educational review program. The complainants requested a full investigation into the program’s legal and budgetary foundations, billing logs and disbursement records.

The complaint alleges that program recipients were instructed to hand over their full P15,500 allocations directly to a single private review center.

Complainants also cited the use of questionable documents — including alleged fraudulent diplomas and indigency certificates — submitted by some applicants.

Furthermore, the complainants questioned the P15,500 per-student pricing, noting that competing review centers offer comparable civil service preparation courses at significantly lower rates.

In a preliminary statement Monday, Aragones urged Laguna residents and supporters to remain calm, with her office expecting to issue a comprehensive response later in the afternoon.

Under Ombudsman procedures, the filing initiates a preliminary evaluation to determine whether administrative or criminal charges will be formally lodged before the Sandiganbayan.