Bohol lawmaker sued for graft at Ombudsman

CRIMINAL and administrative complaints were filed last November 23 before the Office of the Ombudsman against Bohol Rep. Edgar Chatto, his wife Balilihan, Bohol Mayor Pureza Chatto, district engineers Francis Antonio Flores and John Paul Gascon, and businessman Joniever Achacoso of JA Achacoso Enterprises and General Services over alleged irregularities attending two local water supply projects in 2021.

Complainant businessman Emmanuel Ramasola said the first contract was for the construction of a water supply system in Balilihan, Bohol worth P78.044 million, while the second one was for the construction/rehabilitation of water supply/septage and sewerage/rainwater collector system also in Balilihan with a budget of P67.45 million.

Ramasola said both projects were completed and formally turned over to the local government of Balilihan in 2022.

However, he said the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) subsequently found that the actual project location was in Sevilla town in Bohol’s third district, not in Balilihan which is in the first district.

The complainant said the NWRB initially revoked the water permit but later issued a resolution allowing the operation.

In support of the complaint, Ramasola secured a certification from Barangay Magsaysay in Sevilla, Bohol that the contractor was informed that the site of Bugwak Spring was already outside Balilihan, that the local officials declared their opposition, and that no application for a permit was filed for the construction work and water extraction.

For its part, the municipal government of Sevilla notified Balilihan of the boundary violation and demanded the dismantling of the waterworks.

The municipal government of Sevilla later had the waterworks dismantled for being illegally constructed.

Other than claiming that Rep. Chatto was “instrumental” in securing funding for the water supply projects, the complaint did not provide any other detail on why the lawmaker was implicated.

The congressman has earlier filed several criminal complaints for cyber libel against Ramasola for allegedly launching a smear campaign against him on social media.

In the Ombudsman complaint, Ramasola sought indictment of all