LT mayor faces Ombudsman case for stand vs mall project

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – La Trinidad Mayor Gregorio Abalos is facing his second Ombudsman case over a  P250-million mall project in this Benguet capital town which he said was “political.”

Even suspecting that the grave misconduct and oppression lodged by private developer Jarco Realty and Development Corporation which in 2009 forged a lease contract with La Trinidad government for a mall project, as “political,” Abalos said he is braving all these in the interest of the 120,000 residents of his town.

Earlier in January, two residents whom Abalos fired at the local government filed dishonesty, grave misconduct and violations of anti-graft and corrupt practices against Abalos before the Ombudsman over the controversial Black Hole project, also known the Zero Waste Management System technology.

In the second complaint against Abalos, Jarco claimed it has been suffering huge losses and opportunities since Dec. 21, 2009 because of the mayor’s continued refusal for the lease for at least 30 years of a 3,910 square meter property on which Jarco will construct the mall.

On August 17 this year, Jarco corporate secretary Juanito Teope, on behalf of its board of directors, complained before the Office of the Ombudsman for Luzon.

Abalos, suspecting something political ahead of the 2013 polls, said “they want my neck.”

The town mayor, however, said he is firm on disapproving the mall project insisting there were no genuine consultations with affected residents on the project.

The interest of stakeholders in La Trinidad was not taken into consideration, he said, even hinting “money changed hands” during the town administration before him. 

Before the 2010 polls, as a private citizen, Abalos, a lawyer and a former regional director of the Department of Labor in Cagayan Region, succeeded in seeking a temporary restraining order form the court halting the digging of footings for the project.  

“When I took over, I constituted a committee involving even town councilors to study the contract and they found that it was not feasible,” the town mayor said.

Aside from lack of public consultations, the town executive said the mall proposal did not pass through the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Investment Coordination Committee that stipulates that projects beyond P200 million must pass through it. 

NEDA even cited the Jarco contract as non-feasible, he said.

“The process (for its approval) was rigged,” Abalos said.

Abalos said he re-endorsed the issue to the town council requiring an honest to goodness consultations and that it should pass the NEDA ICC.  “Until now, the council has not endorsed the matter back to me.