Ex-Munti Mayor San Pedro slapped with corruption charges

The Muntinlupa City Government has leveled charges of corruption against former mayor Aldrin San Pedro before the Ombudsman for his alleged role in the overpriced sale of a parcel of land during his tenure.

The Ombudsman received and verified the complaint which charges San Pedro for gross violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for his alleged approval of the sale of the Marmeto property in Putatan, Muntinlupa, under questionable circumstances.

“We cannot let this go unpunished, because such abuse of power only shows a lack of accountability to the people of Muntinlupa,” Mayro Jaime R. Fresnedi said in support of the complaint, which was filed through Atty. Genesi Santiago of the City Legal Office. “We pray that justice will be given to the City Government and for all Muntinlupeños.”

The property in question, owned by Mr. Emiliano Marmeto, is adjacent to a parcel of land owned by the City Government on which is situated the Medium-Rise Housing (MRH) project. On March 20, 2000, Mayor Fresnedi, in his first term, was authorized by the City Council to enter into a Conditional Deed of Exchange in which the City Government will swap ownership of certain portions of the adjoining properties with Mr. Marmeto in order to create a road-right-of-way (RROW) to the MRH as well as to the Marmeto property.

However, on January 9, 2012, then-Mayor San Pedro signed a Conditional Sale of Right of Way to the Marmeto property despite lacking the authorization of the City Council. Council records contain no such written authorization granting San Pedro to enter into a contract with the Marmeto family on behalf of the City Government. This glaring omission is evident on the said contract itself, as the required resolution or ordinance number is left blank.

Moreover, the new contract obligated the City Government to pay the Marmeto family the whopping sum of Php6,402,200, including damages incurred due to delays, despite the parcels of land for the RROW having a fair market value of only Php1,130,778. It was further found out that the valuation of Php6.4million was not backed up by any appraisal report from the City Assessor’s Office.

The complaint filed before the Ombudsman also noted that the two contracts were very similar, except for the terms of sale which left the City Government at a gross disadvantage. Moreover, San Pedro was actually a signatory of the original contract, back when he was still a councilor, which indicates his knowledge of the original agreement between the City Government and the Marmeto family and contradicts any denial by San Pedro of the said contract.

Another questionable provision in the contract signed by San Pedro is the identification of Biñan, Laguna, as the place of action, which does not have any significance to the parties and the transaction involved.

In view of these facts, the City Government is asking the Ombudsman to charge and investigate San Pedro for entering into a contract grossly disadvantageous to the City Government and for abuse of his mandate. “The people of Muntinlupa deserve justice and it is only right that the City Government be compensated rightfully in order to return to the people what is rightfully theirs,” Fresnedi added.