CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Office of the Ombudsman has cleared Mayor Oscar Moreno and a few others from the criminal case filed against them over the tax settlement agreement the city government entered into with condiments maker Ajinomoto Philippines in 2013. ADVERTISEMENTThe dismissal of the case against Moreno, former city treasurer Glenn Bañez, and Ajinomoto representative Jocelyn Tsang was prepared by Assistant Special Prosecutor Anthony Ludalvi Vista and signed by Assistant Ombudsman Proper Pilarita Lapitan and Ombudsman Samuel Martires. “This decision is very enlightening, and I know that we have always been on the right side,” the mayor said. The city government also reclassified Ajinomoto’s products from “essential” to “non-essential.”Guialani alleged that Moreno and Bañez violated the anti-graft law by entering into a deal with Ajinomoto. ADVERTISEMENTLawyer Bryan Dale Mordeno, Moreno’s chief legal counsel, said that before the Ombudsman’s decision, the Court of Appeals-Mindanao Station has already ruled on the administrative side of the Ajinomoto case.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer February 27, 2019 10:52 UTC