NGO chief sued for using Ombudsman office to collect fees

MANILA, Philippines - For representing self as an affiliate of the office of the Ombudsman and collecting membership fees, a leader of a non-government organization was slapped with criminal charges before a court. The Office of the Ombudsman said Friday evening the leader of the Bantay Bayan Foundation Inc., was slapped charges before the Caloocan City Metropolitan Trial Court. In a statement on the Ombudsman website, Assistant Ombudsman Evelyn Baliton said charges of usurpation of authority were filed against Danilo Anyayahan. Anyayahan is the group's national organizer and director of field coordination department. Baliton said Bantay Bayan has been dropped from the roll of accredited Corruption Prevention Units (CPU) of the Ombudsman since 2003. The Ombudsman said its Task Force Marshal had previously conducted an entrapment operation with the Anti-Graft Division of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) against Bantay Bayan based in Caloocan City. The case stemmed from a complaint filed before the Ombudsman-Mindanao by Ma. Theresa Macaso, Jeng-Jeng Handang, Melinda Handang, Bong Amil and Elizer Cabato, former members of the Bantay-Bayan-Zamboanga. In their affidavits, the complainants said they were made to believe by Pliny Domingo, who claimed as the Director of Bantay Bayan, that the organization is affiliated with the Office of the Ombudsman. Aside from his claim, Domingo’s role in Anyayahan’s scheme was not immediately known. The complainants said they agreed to work for Bantay Bayan even without receiving monthly compensation. They also claimed that Bantay Bayan, which has around 500 members nationwide, requires its members to pay P500 membership fee, P500 for an ID bearing the name of the Ombudsman's office in bold lettering, P250 for a Task Force Zamboanga ID, and P30 monthly dues. Investigation also showed Bantay Bayan asks for P5,000 mobilization fee from anyone who seeks its help to resolve various criminal and graft-related cases. It even uses letterheads containing the name of the Office of the Ombudsman in its transactions with various groups and other government agencies, the Ombudsman said. - GMANews.TV