Manila: A group of concerned citizens has filed plunder complaints against former Narvacan, Ilocos Sur mayor Luis 'Chavit' Singson, alleging irregularities in a property purchase in the municipality.

According to Philippines News Agency, the complaints were submitted to the Ombudsman by members of the Warriors Ti Narvacan Inc. The complaints also named Mayor Edna Sanidad, Vice Mayor Pablito Sanidad Sr., members of the Sangguniang Bayan of Narvacan, Municipal Assessor Arlene Debina, and Raymond Ang of Western Textile Mills, Inc. as respondents.

The complainants accused Singson and the other respondents of conspiring to defraud the Municipality of Narvacan through an overpriced purchase of a 99,974 square meter property from Western Textile for PHP149.96 million. They claimed the actual value of the property was around PHP49.98 million based on zonal valuation.

The group argued that the nearly PHP100 million overpricing constitutes ill-gotten wealth under RA 7080, also known as the Plunder Law. They explained that the property, initially donated by private individuals to the National Development Company (NDC) for industrial and economic development, was sold to Western Textile Mills, a Chinese-owned corporation, without benefiting the original donors as stipulated in the deed of donation.

Singson was reportedly authorized under a resolution to initiate expropriation proceedings for the property, which the group stated would have been more beneficial to the local government unit. Despite this, Singson allegedly opted for a direct sale, depriving the original donors of the potential to reclaim the property, an option that could have been available through proper expropriation proceedings.