Pasig mayor faces first graft case since 2019

It was a busy Monday for Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto who was faced with the first-ever graft complaint filed against him since he took office in 2019 and a group of protesters who later admitted to being from another city.

The graft complaint, filed by a certain Ethelmart Austria Cruz who identified himself as a private citizen and Pasig resident, was filed in the Office of the Ombudsman on Aug. 7.

The complainant accused Sotto of graft, violation of the code of conduct for public officials, grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and serious dishonesty.

Also named as respondents were Melanie de Mesa, head of Pasig City’s Business Permit and Licensing Department, and Jeronimo Nazareno, the city administrator.

Cruz alleged that Sotto granted a 100-percent tax discount to a telecommunications company based in Pasig City despite supposed inconsistencies in its documents submitted to city hall.

He said in his 17-page complaint that the telecommunications company, Converge ICT Solutions Inc., “misdeclared” the actual size of its office capacity and the number of its employees.

Cruz said the company had declared “for tax purposes” that it was occupying an office space of only five square meters with just four employees. But based on inspection reports in 2022, the actual size of the office was 9,037.46 sq m while the number of employees was 1,901.

The complainant added that a tax order of payment was issued in October 2022 to Converge for a total amount of P3,670,340.11, with a total surcharge of P447,106.77 and interest amounting to P979,570.27 “representing deficiencies/delinquencies in the payment of fees and licenses.”

But Cruz claimed that Sotto’s office granted a 100-percent discount on the penalties, “essentially removing all the tax penalties due the government of Pasig City.”

Probable cause

He argued there was “probable cause” to hold Sotto and the two other city officials liable for “causing undue injury and giving unwarranted benefits,” saying it was a violation of the antigraft law.

The Inquirer tried to get a comment from Sotto who has yet to respond as of this time of writing.

Apart from the graft complaint, the Pasig mayor had to face a group, which said they were protesting the construction of the new city hall with a price tag of P9.6 billion.

However, while speaking with the protesters, Sotto said he found out they were not even his constituents.

Open to queries

In a statement posted on his official Facebook page, he said he received word that around 300 residents would gather in front of city hall, adding that he went out to talk to them “because we are open to any queries” about the construction of the new building.

“However, as I went to this so-called ‘rally,’ I found out that they were from Quezon City. They were even clueless as to why they were brought to Pasig,” Sotto added.

He posted a video which showed him telling the group: “If you have any questions, just ask me because in Pasig, we are transparent here … We admit that the [amount of the construction] is quite big, so it is okay with me if our people will ask about it.”

“Who here is from QC (Quezon City)? There you go, see,” he later said, as many of these protesters wearing white shirts raised their hands and began to cheer, with one even asking to take a picture with him.

Sotto is on his second term as city mayor although he has yet to say whether he will seek a third and last term next year. He was first elected in 2019. INQ