Cebu City, Philippines–Road developer Ben Aratea accused multiple Cebu City officials of alleged ‘under the table’ transactions over his proposal to open a road from Barangay Pardo to Barangay Toong, Cebu City, for free.
Appearing in the City Council, Aratea claimed he was either asked or has paid hundred thousand pesos to city officials for the project.
However, after building over 20 meters of road, he was issued a Cease and Desist order by the City Environment and Natural Resources Office for illegal operations.
The road project was instead awarded to a private contractor through bidding.
With this, he claimed that he had made ‘under the table’ transactions with Cenro officials, City Administrator Floro Casas, Jr., City Legal Officer Rey Gealon, MCWD chairperson Joey Daluz, and Mayor Edgardo Labella’s son, Jaypee Labella.
Casas and Gealon denied the allegations and said that they have never transacted with Aratea .
Both city officials are planning to file charges against Aratea for his ungrounded public statement in the Council.
Daluz and Labella’s son have yet to respond to CDN Digital’s queries.
CDN Digital is also reaching out to the heads of Cenro regarding the allegations. /bmjo #CDNDigital