Defensor: ‘Baseless’ charges won’t prosper

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor, Sr. is confident that the criminal and administrative charges filed against him by former provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada will not prosper.

Mejorada slapped Defensor with charges of technical malversation, graft and corruption, and violation of the Omnibus Election Code.

He also accused the governor of serious dishonesty, grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the interest of the service.

Mejorada lodged the cases before the Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday, Oct. 18.

Defensor said the suits are “baseless” and will eventually be dismissed.

“Let him do his worst,” he stressed.

The governor called Mejorada “a paid hack.”

The cases stemmed from the alleged misuse of more than P17 million in Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) funds alloted for the provincial government.

The amount, Mejorada said, was disbursed by Defensor for financial, educational, burial and medical assistance during the election campaign period in March 2013.

According to him, the governor “caused undue injury to the government and gave unwarranted benefits to the thousands of beneficiaries in giving out what he called as ‘election dole-outs’ for his re-election bid in the May 2013 elections.”

“He violated Section 3 (e) of Republic Act No. 3019,” Mejorada said.

The complainant said Defensor also “violated the election ban on the spending of public funds during the 45-day campaign period.

Under Comelec Resolution No. 9585, series of 2012, the 45-day campaign period began on March 29, 2013 and ended on May 13, 2013.

“These disbursements are the worst corruption that I have seen in the province of Iloilo,” Mejorada said.

SOURCE: Iloilo Metropolitan Times

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