Tightening noose

Edward Hagedorn needs to hire a damn good lawyer if he hopes to extricate himself from the P65-million plunder case slapped against him last week before the Office of the Ombudsman. Plunder is a non-bailable offense like the serious illegal detention case for which Janet Lim Napoles was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

Thus, the moment the Ombudsman files the case against Hagedorn before the Sandiganbayan, he’ll be put on detention while on trial like other prominent personalities who have been charged with plunder. And finding probable cause against Hagedorn may be easy because the plunder rap against him took its root from no less than a damning report by the Commission on Audit (COA).

With that distinct possibility, Hagedorn, who miserably lost a senatorial bid in 2013, should stop harboring any thoughts of becoming Puerto Princesa mayor again, either through the sham May 8 recall election set by the Comelec, or through the 2016 elections.

That recall election against Hagedorn’s rival, current Puerto Princesa Mayor Lucilo Bayron, was the progeny of a bogus recall petition whose verification was railroaded by the local Comelec official to sweep under the rug the list of signatories padded with thousands of double entries, fictitious names and the “signatures” of dead people.

The initiator of that recall petition, an ally of Hagedorn, is already facing criminal charges for falsification of public documents.

Let’s always remember that everything a politician does   is politically motivated for his personal gain.The sham recall petition by Hagedorn’s ally (Puerto Princesans call him “henchman, stooge and lackey”) is a glaring example of this – a blatant attempt at power grab by Hagedorn against the reform-oriented Bayron.

Facing plunder, Hagedorn’s pathetic knee-jerk reaction was to file a countersuit against one of the three complainants who haled him before the Ombudsman. Filing countersuits is too trapo, but then again what is Hagedorn but that.

The complainants against Hagedorn, namely Wilfredo Rama, Antonio Lagrada and Rodrigo Saucelo, tagged him for turning the city government’s coffers into his personal ATM or automated teller machine to the tune of P65,683,661.79. Charged with Hagedorn were several close allies, including his former administrator Agustin Rocamora.

Specifically, the charge sheet accused Hagedorn of violating RA No. 7080, specifically Section 2, in relation to Section 1 (d), (1) and (6); the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184); and Section 93 of Presidential Decree No. 1445.

The modus used by Hagedorn, said the complainants, took the form of “creative reimbursements”  for his own money which he said he advanced to the city government to fund its projects when he was mayor. Really? In the first place, where did Hagedorn get the P65 million which he purportedly loaned to Puerto Princesa?

Actually, the expenses for reimbursement were fictional, a finding made by COA in its 2012 report. Seems like the noose is tightening on Hagedorn’s neck. -END-