THE MAKATI City government has filed graft charges against the Taguig City treasurer and two other employees for allegedly holding out on tax clearance paperwork for three land properties purchased by Makati amounting to over P146 million.

In the 10-page complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman on Monday, the Taguig City government executive and two employees are being charged with grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service — all violations under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Makati Mayor Mar-len Abigail S. Binay, in a statement, scored Taguig City for allegedly disregarding the law by delaying for 11 months the release of tax clearance documents covering the three parcels of land purchased by Makati City from the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).

The complaint accuses the officials of intentionally delaying the process without giving a valid reason and cited the Taguig Citizen’s Charter, which states that the City Treasurer’s Office needs only three days for individuals and five days for corporations to process such requests.

Sought for comment, Taguig’s Public Information Office told BusinessWorld that the case filed by Makati is baseless and “intended only to harass Taguig officials.”

“The cases filed against the officials and employees of Taguig will not detract them from giving the EMBO residents transformative programs that they deserve,” the Taguig PIO said in an email.

The two cities are at odds over jurisdiction of the 10 Enlisted Men’s Barrio or EMBO villages even though the Supreme Court (SC) had already issued a ruling that they are part of Taguig and had been illegally occupied and used by Makati for 30 years.

As a result of that ruling, many public service facilities established and funded for years by the Makati City government are now turned over to Taguig City.

Last month, four Makati employees were trapped in a park previously maintained by Makati City when Taguig City employees locked it up. The Makati City government resorted to suing Taguig City Mayor Laarni L. Cayetano. – Chloe Mari A. Hufana

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR