Mayor Isko, Manila officials sued for graft over barangay post

Graft, usurpation of authority, as well as grave misconduct and grave abuse of authority, have been filed against Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, Vice Mayor Chi Atienza, and 13 other city officials over their alleged unlawful intervention in the removal of an ex-officio member of the city council.

In her complaint before the Ombudsman, Dr. Leilani Lacuna said she filed the case after she was removed as president of the Manila chapter of the Liga ng mga Barangay and ex-officio member of the city council.

Lacuna is the sister of former Manila vice mayor Honey Lacuna, a former ally turned rival of Moreno in the 2025 mayoral race in Manila.

"They intervened in the process and used the barangay captains to get their way by threatening them so they could remove me from my post. They should be held accountable before the law. This is graft and corruption,” Lacuna said in a statement.

“They are after political vendetta and they want a total dictatorship in Manila so they can corner the entire budget of the barangays in the capital city,” she added.

In response, the Manila city government assured their constituents that the city government will always heed the will of the people.

“The City Government of Manila respects the will of 844 out of 896 barangay chairpersons who, among themselves, voted in favor of the new set of officers of the Liga ng mga Barangay. Such participation marks a historic turnout,” it said in a statement.

“To claim that this overwhelming majority were intimidated into participating in a duly constituted process to elect new officers of the Liga ng mga Barangay is an insult to their intelligence. Mere allegations are not synonymous with truth,” it added. —LDF, GMA Integrated News