Sual Mayor Calugay says he forgot to include P1.2-M sale of land in SALN

“Nakaligtaan ko.”

This was the reason Sual, Pangasinan Mayor Liseldo “Dong” Calugay gave to senators Tuesday when asked why he did not include the sale of his land amounting to P1.2 million in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN).

During the resumption of the Senate hearing into illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), Calugay said he asked his partner to sell his 4,000 square meter land for P1.2 million or around P300 to P350 per square meter.

Asked if he included this in his SALN, Calugay said no.

“Hindi ko po sinasadya na hindi ko po nalagay sa SALN ‘yung lupa (I didn't intentionally omit from my SALN the fact that I owned the land),” he said.

Asked why, he answered, “nakaligtaan ko po (I forgot).”

Calugay previously said he sold the land to a certain Veronica Soriano in July 2024. 

The land is where the Happy Penguin Resort was built, the resort that senators suspected dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo hid before she left the country.

Both Calugay and Guo have denied having a romantic or a business relationship with each other, saying that they were just “friends.”

The two were previously questioned regarding the Alisel Aqua Farm in Sual, with Senator Jinggoy Estrada saying that Ali stood for Alice and Sel stood for Liseldo.

Calugay also denied involvement in the D and A Medical Equipment and Supplies Trading in Sual, which Estrada said stood for “Dong and Alice.”

The mayor’s secretary, Cheryl Medina, however said the business was owned by her partner, Arnel Salindong. She said Arnel’s father financed the business.

When she was asked what the D and A stood for, she said it could be “Daddy and Arnel.”  

Guo is facing a graft case as well as a qualified trafficking case before Valenzuela and Pasig courts, respectively. 

Aside from this, a quo warranto petition was also filed against Guo with a Manila court as well as a petition to cancel her birth certificate before a Tarlac court.

She is also facing 87 counts of money laundering before the Justice Department.—AOL, GMA Integrated News