THE late city building official Isidro Obligado and his family had suffered financially because of city hall’s 2003 controversial multimillion-peso telecommunications project.
Mayor Oscar Moreno revealed this on Monday even as he called on the Commission on Audit (COA) to resolve the case against Obligado and other officials linked to the controversial “Telepono sa Barangay” project awarded to the Supplier-Contractor and Networking Telecommunications (Scantel).
Moreno said it was not right that Obligado’s family is suffering because of the Scantel project.
Engr. Obligado died of head injuries last week while under intensive care in a hospital, days after he was hit by a speeding motorcycle in North Cotabato while he was protecting his daughter.
Obligado was financially hard-up that while the engineer was in a hospital, city administrator Teodoro Sabuga-a Jr. appealed for donations from city hall officials and workers.
Moreno said the audit commission would rule on Obligado’s appeal for his exclusion from the list of officials made to return city hall funds that were released as payment to Scantel.
The City Information Office said Obligado had not received his monthly salaries in full since 2016 because of a COA order to withhold all benefits and salaries of city hall officials and former officials who had a hand in the Scantel project.
Since 2016, Obligado had augmented his income by teaching, and his family had to rely on donors to pay for his medical bills.
On May 19, 2015, the COA issued a two-page order for city hall to make all officials with a hand in the Scantel project to return P31,544,761.94 paid to the firm in tranches. The order was signed by COA assistant commissioner Isabel Aguito.
The COA order applied to the now late former mayor Vicente Emano, former vice mayor Caesar Ian Acenas, former councilors President Elipe, Annie Daba, Juan Sia, Maryanne Enteria, Alfonso Goking, the late Reynaldo Advincula, the late vice mayor John Elizaga, former congressman Jose Benjamin Benaldo, former vice mayor Michelle Tagarda Spiers;
Former city hall executives Wilma Polley Rugay, Lino Daral, Virginia Plaza, Estrella Sagaral, Jorie Bingona, Emmanuel Abejuela, Rodulfo Lumacang, and Obligado.
Two current councilors, Edgar Cabanlas and Ian Mark Nacaya, are included in the COA list. (Herbie Gomez)
