The case was filed by Paulino’s administrator in July last year, accusing Gordon of malversation of public funds. The complaint said the sale was disadvantageous to the City Government of Olongapo.
But in its decision, the Ombudsman said “clearly, the contract is not injurious but very advantageous to the city government.”
The Ombudsman noted that while the contract price was only P610.5 million, the city government received P623.6 “because of the interest of P13,114,403.84 earned from the escrow deposit at the DBP Makati branch, which redounded to the benefit of the city government.”
The Ombudsman’s decision also cleared former City Budget Officer Marey Beth Marzan, City Assessor Oscar Agustin, and City Legal Officer Bernardine Gantan on the malversation case.
Reacting to the Ombudsman verdict, Gordon said ‘’this decision of the Ombudsman is a vindication of my administration’s move to privatize the public utility department property” which, he noted, was “the benefit of all Olongapo residents and will ensure its economic development and modernization.
The lot and electric facilities it contained were sold to the Olongapo Electric Distribution Corp.
During the campaign period for the 2013 polls, Paulino blamed the sale of the property containing electric facilities for the frequent brownouts then hitting Olongapo.
Gordon urged Paulino to now “recognize all the benefits of the privatization.”
