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The Commission on Audit cleared Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City
and other local officials for the construction of the controversial
People’s Park, as the Office of the Ombudsman for Mindanao
confirmed the said report and ordered a review of the case.
In an interview with Deputy Ombudsman for
Mindanao Humphrey Monteroso, he said that he received the
commission’s recommendation on February 8.
Monteroso said that he has assigned the case to
his lawyers for evaluation, study and review of the commission’s
report. He declined to say if his office will uphold or reverse the
said commission’s findings.
The Manila Times learned that Auditor Alfredo S.
Reyes, Cluster Director for Mindanao of the Commission on Audit sees
no overpricing in the construction of the People’s Park.
It can be recalled that it was the slain
broadcaster Fernando “Batman” Lintuan who had initially raised
questions about the multimillion-peso park construction, including
the possibility of overpricing in the procurement of the more than
2,000 trees. But the commission’s report submitted to the
Ombudsman for Mindanao indicated that the trees were donations from
the private sector.
The People’s Park was a four-hectare vacant
lot used as a sports center of Davao City, and after years of
neglect it became the haven for various forms of criminal
activities, especially at nighttime.
-- Jomar Canlas
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