Roxas City mayor, 2 other officials face graft raps

ILOILO CITY – Mayor Ronnie Dadivas of Roxas City and two city officials are facing complaints of graft and corruption and malversation of public funds before the Ombudsman.

DADIVAS (FB)

The cases against Dadivas, City Treasurer Mimi Riano, and City Accountant Teresita Bidiones were filed on Tuesday, March 11.

They are also facing complaints of grave abuse of authority, gross misconduct, dishonesty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.

The complaints filed by accountant Carmen Andrade were based on a 2023 audit report of the Commission on Audit (COA).

The complainant accused the Dadivas administration of opening time deposit accounts amounting to P402 million without prior authorization from the city council.

She also accused them of sacrificing specific programs when they used the P8 million from the Special Education Fund and the P25 million from the Trust Fund as investments.

The city government refuted allegations that Dadivas was not authorized by the city council.

Melvin Galagate of the Roxas City Communications Group said the city council authorized the mayor to deposit the funds with the Development Bank of the Philippines and the Land Bank of the Philippines.

Galagate disclosed that the Dadivas administration has complied with the findings and recommendations of COA.