The Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office has cleared the city’s treasury office of any involvement in a supposed bribery incident.
Prosecutor IV Crisistomo Dario Jr., the city’s Inquest Division chief (Non-Drug Cases), approved the resolution of prosecutor Criscelyn Cabayugan-Lugo dismissing the complaint for direct bribery under Article 210 of the Revised Penal Code, and violation of Section 13 of Republic Act 11032 (Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018) against the employees of city treasurer Edgar Villanueva, Ulysses Dela Cruz and Shaine Ann Marie Cabuang, for insufficiency of evidence.
“The city government under Mayor Joy Belmonte will never tolerate any act of bribery as well as corruption,” Dario said.
He said he is determined to file an administrative complaint against some Quezon City Police District members who wrongfully charged and arrested Dela Cruz and Cabuang in an entrapment operation on May 25.
“The operation is meant to besmirch the good reputation of the Quezon City government,” he added.
Anthony Stephen Monteiro, the complainant, said that on April 18, he applied for a certificate of retirement of business at the treasury office with a tax due of P75,000. Monteiro accused Dela Cruz of offering a reduced tax payment and demanding P50,000.
The two city hall employees, both Civil Service eligibles, maintained their innocence, saying there was no corruption involved since they even prepared a business tax bill, and that they even used a counting machine to count the money from Monteiro in front of the other employees.
