TWO barangay captains in Danao City, Cebu have filed a complaint against Fifth District Rep. Vincent Franco “Duke” Frasco and his wife, Liloan Mayor Christina Garcia-Frasco, before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas Thursday, March 3, 2022 over the donation of ambulances that they said were registered under the name of the Cebu Provincial Government.In their 24-page complaint, Don Roel Arias and Joselito Cane, chiefs of Barangays Poblacion and Looc, respectively, accused the couple of violating Republic Act (RA) 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees and RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.The complainants also named a certain Michael Joseph Villamor who they said “conspired” in the acts by allegedly inducing the Frasco couple to commit the questioned acts.Villamor was described by the complainants as a person close to the Frascos, having “a personal friendship, social and fraternal connection, political and professional in nature, which relation gave rise to intimacy among them and ensured his access and his participation in this incident.”Arias and Cane said the respondents “illegally and unjustifiably delivered vehicles as ambulances to Barangays Looc and Poblacion” on Feb. 14, 2022.The complainants said the donation was made to take advantage of the government’s facilities and resources to promote the political campaign of the Frascos for the May 2022 election.The Frascos are seeking reelection to their respective posts.The barangay captains stated in their complaint that they refused to accept the vehicles since in the first place, they did not place any request for ambulances and they do not have the manpower and budget to operate the emergency vehicles.The Frascos were also unable to provide them with documents pertaining to the legality of the donation, said the complainants.For instance, for both barangays, “respondent submitted no proper document regarding proper authority for them to dispose it to the barangay, nor from them to the barangay.”“The barangay and its personnel had not been previously authorized by its Sangguniang Barangay or by the Sangguniang Panlungsod to undertake such a program and to receive the same,” the complaint said.Registered under ProvinceArias and Cane also found out that the registration papers of the vehicles were under the name of the Cebu Provincial Government, and they questioned the printing of the name “Congressman Duke Frasco” and the words “Team Frasco” on the vehicles.The Cebu Provincial Government is led by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, the Liloan mayor’s mother.“As the vehicle appeared to be a property of the Provincial Government, yet respondents did not show any authority to dispose the same. No proper documents were shown or submitted to the barangay regarding resolutions, ordinance or orders bestowing any such authority in favor of the respondents,” the complaint said.The complainants said there was also a direct violation of a provision under the General Appropriations Act of 2021, of which Duke is a signatory, that bans elected or appointed officials from promoting themselves through placement of names on programs or projects funded by the government through the appropriation law.The barangay captains added that the respondents also committed similar acts before the 2019 midterm election wherein multi-cabs were distributed as ambulances.As with the current situation, the necessary permits and licenses were also not given by the respondents, said the barangay captains.It was also stated in the complaint that the respondents violated the orders of the Department of Health that requires ambulance service providers to secure the necessary permits from the department.“Respondents acted with manifest partially to their own interests in using public funds to forward their own private political interest,” reads a portion of the complaint.The controversy over the ambulances began when the vehicles went missing hours after the Frascos turned them over to the barangays.Last Feb. 17, the Office of the City Mayor of Danao released a statement saying that the vehicles were temporarily under the safekeeping of the city’s motor pool pending its legal documents.The statement of the Office of the Mayor further read that it was the barangay captains who personally sought the intervention from the city government, which is led by Mayor Ramon “Nito” Duterte Durano III.Sought for comment Thursday, March 3, an official from the office of Representative Frasco referred SunStar Cebu to the statement the congressman released on Feb. 17.In that statement, the congressman appealed for the immediate release of the ambulances after he said residents reported that the ambulances were “no longer parked at the Looc and Poblacion Barangay Halls and were transferred elsewhere, leaving many to wonder why these emergency vehicles were taken from the barangays.”He sought their release so residents could use them.Frasco had turned over the brand-new ambulances to barangay tanod Juanito Paselona for Barangay Looc, and to Barangay Poblacion, where the statement did not specify who received the vehicle.Among those with Frasco at the turnovers were his wife, Christina, Mike Villamor, and Danao City mayoral candidate Thomas “Thri” Duterte. “This is not the first time Cong. Duke gave ambulances to Danao City and in fact, several barangays in Danao have benefited from his giving of ambulances in the past. Ambulances have also been given by Cong. Duke to other municipalities in the 5th District, most recently in Liloan, and Camotes Islands, and these are currently being used by the people,” the statement read.Representative Frasco is running for reelection for Cebu’s fifth district. Challenging him is the district’s former congressman Ramon “Red” Durano VI.