Pampanga Governor Ed Panlilio had filed a plunder complaint against Senator Lito Lapid, his son former Pampanga governor Mark Lapid, and three others in connection with P568million in missing quarry taxes and fees.
Also charged before the Office of the Ombudsman in the same complaint are former provincial administrator Fidel Arcenas and former provincial treasurers Jovito Sabado and Vergel Yabut.
In his complaint, the priest-politician said the Lapid administrations collected only P121 million in sand and gravel taxes from 2002 to June 2007.
"The collections under the Lapids should have amounted to at least P689 million based on the number of truckloads made to pay environmental ecological fees in the towns of Floridablanca, Mabalacat, and Porac in five and a half years," Panlilio said in his complaint.
In contrast, Panlilio, said the provincial government under his administration has collected P397.608 million from quarry taxes and fees over 23 months.
He said the figure is higher compared to the P382.560 million collected by the Natural Resources Development Corporation (NRDC) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources from 1999 to 2001.
"The extent of the damage and prejudice to the constituents of the province caused by the undue advantage taken by the respondents of their respective official positions is morally shocking even with the successive years of inflation suffered by the Philippine peso."
"And such audacity to enrich themselves at the expense of the people is precisely the crime defined and penalized by the law on plunder," Fr. Panlilio said.
- NEWS UPDATE, 1 June 2009
To beef up his case against the Lapid family, it is important that Gov. Panlilio get hold of the receipts that were issued per loading of trucks from 2002 to 2007, and to get witnesses that will testify upholding his charges against them.
In this case, we wish that Gov. Panlilio would please lay down all his evidences because we do not want such plunder to remain unpunished, especially since the person in question occupies a very high legislative post in the government.
No comments:
Post a Comment