The Field Investigation Office of the Office of the Ombudsman (Visayas) Regional Office VI issued a supplemental affidavit to support the filing of criminal case for usurpation of official function and a corresponding administrative case for grave misconduct against Bacolod Councilor Carlos Jose Lopez.

The case is in relation to the alleged issuance of directive letters by Lopez to former Bacolod Traffic Authority Office head Police Senior Insp. Benedicto Villarias Jr. granting exemption from the Truck Ban Policy of the City of Bacolod.

In her affidavit dated January 23, copies of which were distributed to the media yesterday, Associate Graft Investigating Officer 1 Joe Ann Galleto, said records would show that on Sept. 13, 2013, Lopez issued three separate directive letters to Villarias granting exemption from the Truck Ban Policy of Bacolod, the numerous trucks/delivery vans owned by private companies/persons.

Galleto said this prompted the mayor to file this case against Lopez, who may be held liable for usurpation of official functions under Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code.

“We found grounds to upgrade the complaint against Lopez, based on the documentary evidences gathered during the conduct of this fact finding investigation,” she said.

However, Lopez filed a position paper on August 15 asking the Office of the Ombudsman to dismiss the case filed against him for lack of merit.

Lopez said yesterday that these are all trumped-up charges against him. They are all making it up at the behest of Mayor Monico Puentevella.

He said the administrative case is still under preliminary investigation.

“I will counter-sue them with malicious prosecution and perjury. All their statements are not supported by evidence but by false witnesses,” Lopez said.

In his position paper, Lopez said Villarias had issued an affidavit that his letters “granting or exempting” were all directed to him, not addressed to the truckers. He knew they were merely requests for processing and approval of the Sangguniang Panlungsod.

Only the BTAO with the concurrence of the SP can grant exemptions in compliance with City Ordinance No. 542, he said, adding that he had not issued an order for exemption.

Lopez said that in Galleto's supplemental affidavit, she stated under oath that the “acts of Lopez were discovered by the Office of the Mayor when certificates of exemptions issued by BTAO were publicly placed on the windshields of the purportedly exempted trucks and vans.”

However, the sworn statements made by Puentevella and Galleto were debunked in the mayor's reply affidavit, wherein he stated under oath that “truck drivers would present truck ban exemptions issued by Lopez, as attested by traffic disciplinary officers who flagged down trucks during the months of October and November,” he said.

Villarias, on the other hand, issued a sworn affidavit stating that he “did not issue any certification because he knows that this needs the approval of the SP. “Thus Lopez's letter appears to be his request or his information to me that should there be an exemption, the trucks listed in his letter may be covered,” he said.

Lopez, who was then chairman of the SP Committee on Transportation, said he is fully aware of City Ordinance 542 on temporary exemptions. Following proper procedure, he referred requests for exemption of several truckers to Villarias, for appropriate action.

Although his letters contained the words “approve” and “grant”, these were understood by Villarias as mere requests, since the latter referred these letters to the SP.

But these were maliciously misinterpreted by Puentevella and Galleto as usurpation of official authority and/or functions and grave misconduct, he said.

Lopez said the sworn statements from BTAO officers that truckers showed them truck ban exemptions he signed were not supported by evidence. Even Puentevella and Galleto were not able to submit to the Ombudsman the alleged truck ban exemption.

He said Galleto could even be held liable for gross negligence when she recommended the upgrading of the complaint into a formal case considering that her affidavit failed to show that she validated Puentevella's allegations.

Lopez said his letters, although beset by wrong choice of words or construction of words, were intended to be a liason between the legislative and the BTAO.*CGS

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