The camp of former mayor Evelio Leonardia on Thursday, June 30, slammed the “Truth Commission” of Bacolod Mayor Alfredo “Albee” Benitez for allegedly spreading “fake news”.
“It is clearly a vehicle for political vendetta, a tool for propaganda to discredit only the good image of Mayor Leonardia, a zarzuela, a colorum if you may want to call it, a venue for witch-hunting coupled with malicious imputations, a channel for trial by publicity laced with defamatory labels,” Dr. Chris Sorongon, spokesperson of Leonardia, said in a press statement.
He said Benitez may have been ill-advised by his loyalists.
Benitez has red-flagged more than P1.5 billion in Bacolod City government transactions for investigation, his spokesperson Lyzander “Bong” Dilag announced Tuesday, June 28
Benitez on his assumption of office will issue an executive order creating a committee, which will correct the errors of the past and ensure that they do not happen again, Dilag said.
“To achieve our goal of good governance, it may be a necessary consequence to hold accountable those public officials who may have violated our laws,” Benitez said.
The committee will help ensure a clean and transparent government, he said.
Sorongon said it came as no surprise that the incoming administration, through its mouthpieces, resumed its “fireworks” Tuesday by attacking and discrediting Leonardia at a press conference, where they reportedly circulated the “initial findings” of their Truth Commission that was tasked to look into, investigate and assess the financial transactions of the previous administration.
Sorongon said legal luminaries are starting to question the legality of the creation of the much-hyped Truth Commission. From the looks of it, the so-called Truth Commission has already been fully functional even before Benitez assumed office, Sorongon said.
“I cannot overemphasize the fact that the Leonardia administration has been consistently transparent and had subjected itself to all regulations set by the Commission on Audit (COA). Strict compliance and adherence to COA rules, in fact, are among the basis why the LGU received scores of national and regional awards, including the Seal of Good Local Governance and the Seal of Good Financial Housekeeping from the Department of Interior and Local Government,” Sorongon said.
Sorongon said then President Benigno Aquino III signed Executive Order No. 1 sometime in July 2010, establishing the “Philippine Truth Commission” to investigate alleged corruption committed by his predecessor.
The Supreme Court en banc declared Aquino’s EO No. 1 creating the PTC as “unconstitutional”, he said.
The Truth Commission is obviously not a neutral or objective body as it is comprised of partisan people hired by Benitez and his close associates, Sorongon said.
“Bacolodnons should be warned of the real motives behind this illegal and unconstitutional truth commission as it was established only to destroy Mayor Leonardia because they still consider him a threat to their political agenda,” he added.
Benitez, in a statement Tuesday, said “as mayor, it is my duty to ensure that all taxes and revenues of the city are applied in accordance with law and that all moneys and properties of the city are properly safeguarded“.
The main purpose of his issuing an executive order creating the committee is to ensure that moving forward, his administration will not yield the same adverse findings as contained in various COA reports for the past several years, he said.
He will be tapping the services of experts with relevant experience in government procurement to aid the committee for an efficient and thorough review of the transactions of the city government, Benitez said.
“The goal of this process is also to serve as warning to all those who serve under my administration to strictly adhere to existing laws and proper procedures”, he said.*