CITY Hall has slapped Patag Barangay Chairman Benedicto Fabricante with 90-day preventive suspension pending investigation of administrative charges lodged against him at the blue ribbon committee of the City Council.

In an executive order dated September 25 and enforced last Monday, Mayor Constantino Jaraula cited a provision of the Local Government Code that vested him authority to suspend erring barangay officials “when evidence of guilt is strong.”

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But Fabricante’s lawyers and supporters say the grave abuse of discretion and falsification charges against him are too flimsy to merit suspension.

They say politics played a hand in the barangay official’s temporary removal from office.

The charges against Fabricante were brought by three barangay employees—two of them reassigned for purported lapses in their duties, and another dismissed for alleged irregularity.

Fabricante was nowhere to be seen when City Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Director Emil Rana arrived at the Patag barangay hall to serve the order around 10 a.m.

Instead, Rana and a team of policemen were greeted by the sight of six black coffins displayed outside the barangay hall — all marked with the names of Jaraula, Vice Mayor Vicente Emano, Councilor Marycor Calizo, the members of the blue ribbon committee and a Patag barangay councilman who stands to temporarily replace Fabricante.

Fabricante’s supporters, among them barangay employees and members of the barangay council, also blocked Barangay Councilor Allan Roy Sambaan and his supporters from entering the barangay hall.

Sambaan was supposed to temporarily assume Fabricante’s position being the top-ranked village councilor according to votes garnered.

Apparently frustrated, Sambaan and some of his supporters tried to pull down the streamers expressing support for Fabricante, and loaded the coffins into a mini-dump truck.

But one of Fabricante’s lawyers intervened, and threatened Sambaan and his supporters with charges, including Rana for “consenting” the removal of the protest paraphernalia.

“Only the court can order to remove the protest sign and to stop the protest. Kung wala kana nga kamandoan sa korte so magpadayon usab ang protest,” Carrasco told Rana, who was mum during the entire confrontation. 

For his part, Sambaan said he had no personal interest in Fabricante’s suspension, and that he was merely following the rule of succession being next in line to the suspended barangay official.

Carrasco maintained that the suspension order was illegal, and that the complainant had an ax to grind against Fabricante.

The decision to reassign the two complainants and to dismiss the other was sanctioned by the barangay council, she said.

She also questioned why the suspension order was grounded on a report by the Commission on Audit (COA) stating an “incident” during a cash examination conducted by the audit body on Barangay Patag last Septermber 18.

Jaraula’s order did not elaborate what “incident” that was.
Carrasco pointed out that COA is not among the complainant in the charges being heard by the administration-controlled blue ribbon committee, and that its findings had no bearing on the charges brought by the three complainants.

She also questioned City Hall’s temerity to use COA reports in suspending her client, when it has allegedly closed its eyes on another COA findings showing the former barangay of Patag having incurred “doubtful expenses” amounting to more than four million pesos.

The lawyer was referring to Councilor Calizo, who ran and won under the administration party in the 2007 elections.

A COA audit report issued last year revealed that Calizo still has un-liquidated advances, on top of irregular expenditures and questionable procurements that all amounted to P4.3 million.

"This is all politics, what with the elections already in the air.

If they are serious at running against crooks in government, then they should run after their own partymates first," she said.

Opposition Councilor Roger Abaday agreed.

"The charges are very flimsy. Bisan gamay'ng bata makasabot. Naay klaro nga dagkong kawat di man gaka-suspenso ang mga involved," Abaday said.

The councilor believes Fabricante's suspension had something to do with the barangay official's affiliation with the opposition camp.

Jaraula was out of town for an undisclosed business when this paper called to seek comment.

He appointed Vice Mayor Emano as acting mayor before leaving for Manila last Monday.

Calizo was not immediately available for comment.