Former Ilocos Sur governor and long-time local figure Luis “Chavit” Singson, alongside 13 other officials, have been charged with plunder and graft by the Office of the Ombudsman. The complaint arises from a 2019 transaction in which the municipal government of Narvacan, Ilocos Sur, allegedly purchased a roughly 10-hectare parcel of land from Western Textile Mills, Inc. for ₱149.96 million, when civic groups claim its market value based on zonal appraisal was only ₱49.98 million — meaning the public may have lost almost ₱100 million.
The complaint, filed by civic group Warriors ti Narvacan, Inc. and lawyer Estelita Cordero, accuses Singson, then-vice mayor Pablito Sanidad Sr., current mayor Edna Sanidad, municipal councilors, the municipal assessor, and other implicated parties of conspiring to defraud the municipality. The allegations center on the approval of an allegedly inflated purchase to be used for a public market project.
Singson has publicly rejected the charges as being politically motivated. He insists the purchase was made in good faith: he claims he initially acquired the land himself and later sold it to the municipal government for ₱120 million, asserting that at the time the land’s fair market value was much higher — around ₱800 million — and that its value has since risen to some ₱2 billion. He describes the current case as “a diversionary tactic” orchestrated by political opponents.