10 cases vs Masbate gov, 10 others dropped

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is welcomed by Masbate Governor Antonio Kho during the latter’s birthday celebration at the Kalasangan Farm in Cataingan, Masbate on January 9, 2019. ALBERT ALCAIN/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

The 10 remaining cases against Masbate Gov. Antonio Kho have been dropped following the filing of an affidavit of desistance by the complainant after the Office of the Ombudsman dismissed the initial five cases against the governor.

Ruben Fuentes, a Masbate media practitioner, signed on March 14 an affidavit of desistance for the 10 complaints against Kho.

Fuentes filed 15 cases against Kho and 10 officials of the provincial government of Masbate over alleged anomalous disbursement of public funds.

Fuentes admitted that there were no anomalous acts that can be inferred from his complaint, and he also apologized to Kho and the other provincial officials who were implicated in the complaint.

“I apologized to Gov. Antonio Kho and the other officials of Masbate provincial government for filing these baseless and malicious cases. I am deeply sorry and I regret whatever embarrassment these complaints may have caused in their names and reputation in the eyes of their constituents,” Fuentes said.

In his two-page affidavit of desistance, he admitted that the complaints were “prematurely filed” and that the dismissed cases were similar to the ten remaining complaints.

Fuentes said that he relied on incomplete information when he filed all 15 graft cases against Kho.

“The common reason given for the outright dismissal is that the complaint is premature because the basis, which are the findings and observations contained in the Management Letter of Annual Audit Report of the Commission on Audit, are not final as they are still subject to the agency’s comments or compliance with the Commission on Audit’s recommendations,” he said in his affidavit.

He added that while he pondered on the outright dismissal of the complaints, he realized that the COA issuances are not final until a complete appreciation of the facts and circumstances that surround each project.

“For this reason, no acts of anomalies or corruption could be inferred based on the COA issuances,” Fuentes said.

The Ombudsman dismissed five of the 15 graft cases, noting that the conclusions drawn merely from audit reports hinge on technical matters and may still be subjected to clarification through discussions with the COA and the public officer.

Kho was reelected Masbate governor in 2022. He was named as one of the top performing governors by independent survey firm RP-MD Foundation for his efforts in establishing linkages via shipping routes fromMasbate to Bicol, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) and Visayas.

Last year, the provincial government was recognized by the Philippine Statistic Authority for reducing poverty incidence by 11.3 percent from 2018 to 2023.