ZAMBOANGA CITY—The Ombudsman has suspended Lamitan City Vice Mayor Roderick Furigay for six months without pay after he was found guilty of grave misconduct over the city’s purchase of construction materials in 2012. The case stemmed from the city government’s payment of P548,256 worth of construction supplies to the firm HHH Developer and Real Estate, Inc. (HDRI) and P175,000 payment for a five-day scuba diving course to Furigay College Inc. (FCI), which Furigay approved when he was still Lamitan City mayor in 2012. Both firms, the Ombudsman found out, were owned by people closely related to Furigay, the Ombudsman said in the statement Thursday. In October 2012, HDRI and FCI refunded P723,256 to the local government of Lamitan. The Inquirer sought Furigay’s reaction but the latter refused to comment, saying his legal counsel would speak in his behalf.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer December 14, 2017 09:33 UTC