Lloren says charges mere creation of political rival

JAGNA - Mayor Exuperio Lloren this week said the charges raised against his administration are the handiwork of a political rival who is testing the waters. The mayor issued the statement in reaction to the allegations hurled against him and the alleged threat of legal action by concerned citizens. The story published last month (not in the Post) focused on the alleged irregularities concerning the construction of the public market and the purchase of service vehicles as well as their uses. According to the story, the group led by architect Tito Espiritu wanted a full blown investigation after the Commission on Audit (COA) found supposed irregularities.

“The alleged flaws, substandard workmanship and materials noted by COA no longer exist as the subsequent reports show,” Lloren said. The mayor pointed out that he himself called for the inspection in 2004 even while the construction work was still going on so corrective measures could be immediately implemented. “It would be foolish for us to ask the COA to conduct the inspection if we were doing anything anomalous,” Lloren noted. The mayor said there was no longer any mention of this in the subsequent COA reports because the matter had been threshed out. “If there is any irregularity, the COA itself will take action as in the case of a ghost project during the term of a previous mayor,” Lloren recalled. The mayor said people should wonder why this matter which was brought out in 2004 is being looked into only now. “Obviously, it is because the election season is near,” he added.

The mayor also doubts that it was Espiritu who claimed that his letter to the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) on the matter was “ignored”. “The minutes of the SB sessions show that his letter was deliberated upon,” he added, saying somebody must be putting words into Espiritu's mouth. Lloren also dismissed the issue of the purchase of a brand new service vehicle saying this is a downright fabrication since there has been no such purchase for the past several years now. “Maybe the person behind this does not understand the meaning of brand new,” the mayor noted. Lloren also denied there were “excessive” purchases of medicine saying that the records will show that there have been no purchases in excess of what was appropriated for health centers. As for the alleged irregularities in the use of a second hand van supposedly by his brother, Councilor Senen Lloren (not sister as reported), the mayor said it is for the SB to explain. “They are the ones in charge of it,” he noted.

Regarding the question on the funds for the Sandugo street-dancing and the “Globalik”, Lloren said the town did it for cultural enhancement. “It is not just a simple issue of fund-raising,” he added. Lloren said former Mayor Marciana Tsurumi had been actively going the rounds in an effort to cook up issues against him. “I won't be surprise if she runs because that is the purpose for the publication of the unfounded accusations,” he added.

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