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By Jomar Canlas, Reporter
CRIMINAL charges were filed
before the Office of the Ombudsman against Philippine Tourism
Authority (PTA) General Manager Robert Dean Barbers for desecrating
the historical Walled City of Intramuros by approving the
construction of a sports complex in the area.
This issue was the subject of a
Sunday Times special report on March 18, 2007.
In a nine-page complaint
affidavit, former PTA General Managers Nixon Kua and Lito Banayo,
accused the present PTA general manager was with technical
malversation, violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Antigraft and
Corrupt Practices Act and RA 6713 or violation of the Code of
Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
Kua and Banayo are also asking
Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez to place Barbers under preventive
suspension in order to “protect and preserve documents, papers,
records and other evidence necessary in the proper resolution of the
charges lodged herein, and in order to prevent respondent from
terrorizing or otherwise influencing potential witnesses against
him.”
The complaint accuses Barbers of
graft by ignoring Presidential Decree 1616 or the law preserving the
Intramuros walls. Kua and Banayo stressed that “respondent Barbers
is guilty of causing undue injury not only to the government but to
the Filipino as a whole. He recklessly put to naught the historical
value and importance of the Walled City.”
Malversation was also allegedly
committed by the illegal use of public funds in the construction of
the said sports complex.
“It must be pointed out that
subject to the approval of the project by the IA, the PTA Board
allocated only P15 million for the construction of the questioned
PTA Sports complex, per PTA’s corporate operating budget for the
year 2005.”
They added that the actions of
Barbers constitute grave misconduct for which he should likewise be
administratively made liable and dismissed from service. Barbers
allegedly put the PTA in a bad light by desecrating the Walled City
of Intramuros.
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