Accuser. Former Sto. Tomas administrator Rodelio Garcia shows his affidavit against Mayor Joselito Naguit whom he accused of being jueteng operator in Pres. Aquino’s hometown in Concepcion and other towns in Tarlac.
Photo by Ding Cervantes
STO. TOMAS, Pampanga- A resigned official of this town has asserted that the illegal numbers game “jueteng” has persisted in Pres. Aquino’s hometown of Concepcion, as well as in six other town sin Tarlac, as he named his Mayor Joselito Naguit as operator.
In a press conference, Rodelio Garcia, who resigned as municipal administrator of this town last January, made this claim after he filed before the Office of the Ombudsman charges of malversation of public funds against Naguit, acting municipal accountant Nympha Lacsina, and acting municipal treasurer Regina Carreon.
In his complaint, Garcia accused primarily Naguit of “making illegal cash advances from May up to November 2011 in the total amountof P9.5 million in order to finance respondent Naguit’s jueteng business, restaurant business, and for his personal gains.”
Garcia, during the press conference, said Naguit made the cash advances partially to cover losses in his jueteng operations,disguised as Small Town Lottery of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes, in eight towns in Tarlac, including Concepcion where the President isa registered voter.
“I have personal knowledge of the jueteng operations in Tarlac since he consulted with me and sought my help on the losses he was then incurring in his operations in the eight towns there,” he said.
He named some of the other towns as Bamban, Sta. Ignacia, Gerona, andLa Paz, but could not immediately recall the other three.
“It is only in Moncada where the operations of STL is legitimate.In the other areas, STL is mere front for jueteng,” Garcia said.
In a telephone interview, however, Naguit denied the allegations as he accused Garcia of political motives and vendetta in filing the Ombudsman charges.
“What I know is that only STL operates in those areas and isoperated by Northrail Resorts Services which is owned by a certain Roxas and is under the franchise of Paragas,” he said.
Naguit accused Garcia of vendetta after allegedly being forced to resign as municipal administrator last January.
“In May last year, I told him he would no longer handle any fund in the local government,” Naguit said, as he accused Garcia of mishandling some one million pesos of municipal funds.
“There were findings that he had been padding the payroll as well as payments for supplies. Then he also used my name to contract loans from the private sector and wasting them in the casino,” he said.
Naguit also accused Garcia of using P250,000 of local funds and another P150,000 of his private money for gambling in casinos. This,as he denied using funds for his alleged restaurants, noting that only his brother and not he owned a restaurant.
Naguit said that his withdrawals from the municipal coffers werea shortcut from bureaucratic red tape so that funds could immediately be made available for emergencies, as his town is flood- prone.
“We have a report from the Commission on Audit saying nothing is wrong with our finances. All the funds withdrawn were eventually returned to the local coffers,” he stressed.
Naguit said that apparently, Garcia is being used by his political adversary, former Mayor Romy Ronquillo who reportedly has plans in the2013 local elections.
“The fact is he (Garcia) and his family now live in a property owned by Ronquillo in Quezon City. Even the vehicle he uses is owned by Ronquillo,” he said.
Garcia attached to his complaint photo copies of disbursement vouchers signed by the respondents, showing withdrawals from thelocal general fund.
He said that the cash advances started in May lastyear, soon after he failed to find people who could loan Naguit funds purportedly to cover losses in jueteng operations in Tarlac.
The complaint also identified the specific checks issued by the Philippine National Bank covering the series of withdrawals totalingP9.5 million.
