THE Office of the Ombudsman has indicted a former mayor from Misamis Oriental and her husband for graft in connection with the questionable utilization of P1.5 million in government funds to develop an idle farm.
Ex-Jasaan mayor Grace Jardin and her husband, ex-municipal administrator Redentor Jardin, are set to face trial for violations of Section 3(e) and 3(h) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act or Republic Act No. 3019 before the Sandiganbayan.
In 2015, the Sangguniang Bayan issued Resolution Nos. 67 and 79, authorizing Jardin to enter into memoranda of agreement for the implementation of an agricultural demo farm in Barangay San Isidro and an ecotourism park in Barangay Corrales.
Upon closer scrutiny of the agreement, the Ombudsman discovered that respondents were able to use P1.5 million in public funds to develop a once barren agricultural land.
“Respondent-spouses were public officers who had direct financial interest in the contract. Under the MoAs, their property would be developed by the municipality at its own expense, while the management of the park in Barangay Corrales would be subsequently turned over to them upon refund of the municipality’s investments,” the Ombudsman’s decision read.
“As to the San Isidro demo farm, the municipality would essentially be developing respondent-spouses’ property without cost to them. On the other hand, as to the Corrales ecotourism park, [they] would be benefited by the share that the municipality was obligated to put in the investment, which they would otherwise have to secure on their own elsewhere.”