Mayor, treasurer sued for not paying P28M to contractors

Caloocan City Mayor Enrico Echeverri and city treasurer Lourdes Jose were charged on Wednesday before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly refusing to pay more than P28 million to four private contractors who had fully rendered basic services to the city. Echeverri and Jose were charged for violating The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. The complainants were Tiger Construction, Atlantic Erectors, Speed Security and investigation, and Ra-Rap Services. Records show that the city government owes Tiger Construction P13,886,836.40; Atlantic Erectors, P2,781,818.18; Speed Security, P2,378,322.23; and Rap Rap services, P9,255,109.09. Rap Rap services representative Luisito Rivera said the two city officials acted refused to pay the company despite several demands. In his complaint, Rivera said: "Complainant continues to suffer business losses because of respondents' foregoing corrupt practices. Worse, Mayor Echeverri demanded 50 per cent of my collectibles before payment could be made. I refused to comply with his immoral and felonious demand because I already lost substantial amount of my investments due to the long and unreasonable delay of the said payment." - GMANews.TV