Guadalupe has jurisdiction over village: council secretary

CADASTRAL maps of the Cebu City Council showed that Rosalina Village belongs to Barangay Guadalupe, a City Hall official said yesterday.

City Council Secretary Jose Marie Poblete said that a city ordinance enacted in 1925 defines the territorial boundaries of Barangays Guadalupe, Tisa and Banawa.

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Also, Poblete confirmed that nothing in the City Council records showed any boundary conflict between Barangays Guadal-upe and Labangon.

Poblete took the witness stand yesterday and testified before Judge Gabriel Ingles of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 58 on where Rosalina Village really belongs.

Ingles was hearing the motion for issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) filed by Labangon Barangay Councilor Victor Buendia.

Buendia, through his lawyer Julius Ceasar Entise, had filed a petition for prohibition with prayer for the issuance of a TRO and writ of preliminary injunction with the RTC against the Commission on Elections (Comelec) 7 for the conduct of a plebiscite.

Buendia, who is on his second term as barangay councilor of Labangon and a member of Rosalina Village Homeowners Association, stands to lose his residency and might even be disqualified as bara-ngay councilor of Laba-ngon if the village will become part of Barangay Banawa-Englis after the plebiscite.

President Arroyo signed into law Republic Act 9905 or an Act Creating a Barangay to be known as Barangay Banawa-Englis, Cebu City last Jan. 7.

The act enumerates, among others, the puroks comprising Sitio Banawa. Under Section 1 of RA 9905, Rosalina Village in Barangay Labangon, where Buendia is residing, will be part of Sitio Banawa.

The petitioner said that the inclusion of Rosalina Village as one of the puroks of Sitio Banawa “is indubitably a substantial alteration” of the boundary of Barangay Labangon.

Ingles granted yesterday the motion for intervention of at least nine residents of Barangay Guadalupe who had asked the court to allow them to intervene in the petition Buendia filed last week that sought the deferment of the March 13 plebiscite.

Entise also filed an amended complaint purportedly to strengthen their contention in their original petition that Rosalina Village is really a part of Barangay Labangon.

Lawyer Edwin Cadu-ngog, south district elections officer, said the petitioner merely wanted Rosalina Village residents to participate in the plebiscite in Barangay Guadalupe.

Ingles said that no boundary dispute has been recorded and that the only issue is whether Rosalina Village residents can participate in the plebiscite in Barangay Guadalupe.

James Fuentes, the technical services officer of the Land Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, also testified and confirmed that there is no standing boundary dispute between Labangon and Guadalupe.

Labangon Barangay Captain Felix Abella also told the court that the barangay officials approved resolution objecting to the planned survey for the creation of Barangay Banawa-Englis.

Abella also said the Rosalina Village residents are getting barangay clearances from Barangay Labangon.

In his testimony, Poblete presented at least three maps he culled from the records of the City Council. One map, the one being used by the City Assessor’s Office for taxing purposes only, showed that Rosalina Village belongs to Barangay Labangon.

But Poblete admitted that the voting jurisdiction of Rosalina Village is split to Barangays Guadalupe and Labangon. This means that some registered voters come from Rosalina Village in Barangay Labangon while some are registered in Barangay Guadalupe.