Plunder Case Filed Against Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte by City Hall Employee
An employee of the Quezon City Hall has filed a plunder case against Mayor Joy Belmonte over food packs distribution anomaly.
Belmonte was charged with plunder by the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the supplied food packets, which were reportedly purchased at a high cost. Clement Joy Mercado, Draftsman III of the municipal government’s Engineering Department, filed the complaint.
“Being a resident, taxpayer, and employee of Quezon City, I am deeply concerned about the recent transactions of the Local Government of Quezon City where hundreds of millions of pesos were spent on groceries and other items in connection with the pandemic response,” he said in the complaint.
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The lawsuit especially mentioned the municipal hall’s purchase of food supplies for P426,737,499.90 on September 30, 2020. According to the report, each meal box costs P809.95.
However, the complaint claims that if the price of the food pack is calculated using the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Suggested Retail Price, each pack costs just P442.16. He said that there is an unusual going on here.
“Clearly, there is an overprice of approximately P367.79 per unit or a total overprice of P193,801,056.00 for the 526,934 units of food packs for indigents,” the complaint said.
Apart from plunder, Mercado charged Belmonte, Ruby Manangu, the Accounting Department’s officer-in-charge, and Rhea Quintos, of Quintos Enterprises, with breaching the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Many more people might have been assisted if the city hall monies had been handled properly, according to the complainant.
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