Dalaguete mayor, 9 others face raps for death of welder

Incumbent Dalaguete mayor Ronald Cesante during his filing of Certificate of Candidacy for reelection on Tuesday, October 8. | Photo from Ronnie Cesanto FB

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The incumbent mayor of Dalaguete town in Cebu, Ronald Allan Cesante, is currently facing multiple charges for violations which resulted in the death of a 21-year-old construction worker last June 5, 2024.   

Authorities also filed similar charges to three other government employees and five private individuals following the accidental fall of Jerson Enseñales. 

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The National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7) filed charges of alleged graft and corrupt practices, reckless imprudence resulting in homicide, and grave misconduct (except for respondents who are private individuals) against:

1. Ronald Cesante – Incumbent municipal mayor of Dalaguete, Cebu

2. Expedizitas Lenares  – Municipal engineer for the local government of Dalaguete

3. Fernando Armecin – Engineer for the local government of Dalaguete

4. Ernie Amarado – Engineer for the local government of Dalaguete

5. Juan Castillo – Junior project engineer from Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH 7)

6. Peter Paul Dy Jr. – President of the construction firm that was hired by the LGU

7. Arthur Dy – Vice President

8. Sally Lugtu – Treasurer

9. Mary Joy Dela Cruz – Secretary

10. Henry Dy – Staff member

NBI-7 recommended to the Office of the Ombudsman of the Visayas the filing of both criminal and administrative charges against the individuals above on Thursday, October 10.

This decision was made based on the result of an investigation launched after a complaint was made by the victim’s mother, Mengred Gegremosa, and sister, Jonamie Enseñales, last July 11.

As the breadwinner of their family living in Sitio Lapa, Brgy. Mantalongon, Jerson had been working as a job order employee at the local government unit. He worked as a welder in various constructions projects in their town.

On June 4, however, he was allegedly pulled out by a municipal engineer to work under a private company for the construction of a covered sports complex located in Brgy. Matoray.

A day after he started, Jerson accidentally fell off the top of the sports complex and died instantaneously.

Aside from suspicions of foul play, Jerson’s family raised concerns that he was not given any safety equipment while working at the construction site.

During NBI-7’s investigation, they discovered that while the fall was accidental, there was conspiracy involved leading to the death of the construction worker.

Lawyer Renan Oliva, director of NBI-7, said that the construction project was awarded to a private construction firm.

READ MORE: Construction worker dies from electrocution in Batangas

Instead of the firm’s own resources, however, the project was being built by job order employees of the LGU.

Moreover, they were using equipment, such as dump trucks, owned by the local government.

Because the project was supervised by municipal engineers, Special Investigator Wenceslao Galendez said that there was a presumption that it was approved by the LGU.

Authorities saw a violation to the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act because of the alleged use of public funds for a private purpose, said Oliva.

The investigation also said that none of the construction workers were provided safety equipment, a circumstance that should have been pointed out by the supervising DPWH-7 engineer.

According to Galendez, the engineer said that their only concern was to ensure that the complex was built according to the qualifications.

“They have no concern actually who did the actual (project0, Mao na iyang gingon. But anyway, kung moingon siya nga nagsupervise siya, he should know also nga ang mga workers did not use safety equipment,” he said.

(They have no concern actually on who did the actual (project). That is what he said. But anyway, if he would say that he supervised them, he shold also know that the workers did not use safety equipment.)

Galendez said that the engineer, who did not alert the company of the safety violations, was probably aware that the resources were from the LGU.

Oliva told reporters that they invited the respondents to their office to give them a chance to air their side.

However, none of the members of the private company came and the mayor only sent a representative due to a conflict in schedule.

Nevertheless, their investigation was complete and they gathered sufficient pieces of evidence which allowed them to proceed with the filing. 

Their evidence included documentary evidence, such as the victim’s payslip, and testimonies of his fellow job order employees.

Cesante, for his part, said that he was invited to the NBI-7 office on October 9 but he was unable to attend because of his busy schedule after filing his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) the day before.

The mayor told CDN Digital in a text message on Friday, October 11, that he would be providing a statement on the matter after he would be able to read the complaint made against him.

“Surely we’ll seek legal advice as well to protect my name and those of the others,” he said.