THE Office of the Ombudsman has ordered Lobo, Batangas Mayor Lota Manalo, Vice Mayor Gaudioso Manalo, and Municipal Treasurer Leandro Canuel to file their respective counter-affidavits answering a criminal complaint filed against them by a trader last April 13.
Complainant Efren Ramirez Construction and General Services Corp. (ERC), represented by Kimberly Ramirez, said Mayor Manalo demanded “grease money” in exchange for the continued business operation of the firm in the municipality’s jurisdiction.
The demand was reportedly made to ERC founder Efren Remirez sometime in May 2022 after Manalo won the election.
“My father explained that ERC has been helping different communities in Lobo and that all our operations are legal. Respondent Mayor Manalo threatened my father that if ERC does not pay, she will stop all our business operation in Lobo and give it to another investor,” Kimberly Ramirez said.
ERC disclosed that it had obtained rights to dredge, desilt and realign the Lobo River, including hauling of sand, gravel, and other mineral deposits based on interests and titles transferred to it in 2018 by the FS Suntan Sand Corp.
The complainant stressed that its rights have been affirmed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) — Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) on June 28, 2018.
Likewise, it also secured a Mineral Processing Permit from the DENR-EMB authorizing it to operate an aggregates crushing plant in Barangay Poblacion, Lobo; renewals of permits for extraction/processing of sand and gravel in Barangays Fabrica, Ladlarin, Tayuman, Poblacion, Olo-olo, and Mabilog na Bundok all in Lobo effective until October 21, 2027; and a contract of lease over a parcel of land in Poblacion for its aggregates crushing/screening plant.
On September 20, 2022, the ERC said it received a letter from the mayor that its memorandum of agreement pertaining to Lobo River dredging and desilting expired on September 18, 2022 and that it cannot resume operations without a valid MOA.
ERC said it did not get any response from the LGU regarding its application for renewal dated August 5, 2021 with two more follow-up letters dated November 9, 2021 and September 5, 2022.
On the other hand, the firm said it came to learn that vice mayor Manalo convinced several barangay officials to issue a resolution objecting to ERC’s dredging and desilting activities.
It was later informed that the area previously covered by its MOA had been awarded in favor of another quarrying company.
The municipal government also ordered it to vacate the leased lot in Poblacion on January 17, 2023 on the ground that the lease contract supposedly expired on June 30, 2022. ERC said its contract remained in effect until April 18, 2023.
It said it was also charged higher load inspection fees which it was forced to pay under protest to be able to continue operating.
For causing it undue injury by inaction on its applications for renewal and awarding its previous area of operation to another company, ERC asked the Ombudsman to indict the respondents for violations of RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
