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Home » Sun.Star Cebu » Local News

Mayor Osmeña to work on dividing Bry. Guadalupe into 3 before his term ends

Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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SINCE the poll body will not require elected officials to resign if they seek higher office, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he will finish his last term as mayor to work on “lots of little stuff” for the city.

Before stepping down as mayor, Osmeña wants to start dividing Barangay Guadalupe, the largest barangay, into three smaller barangays to ensure efficient delivery of services to the constituents.

Post your prayers and condolences for Cory Aquino's family

With the Cebu City Council, he will also confer on President Arroyo the status of Adopted Daughter of Cebu City, and implement the installation of a new rubberized oval at the Cebu City Sports Center before his term ends on June 30, 2010.

“I will hang on until the last day,” Osmeña said in a text message sent to Sun.Star Cebu.

City councilors said the mayor has big plans for the South Road Properties (SRP), but Osmena declined from commenting on the matter yesterday.

He said he wants to accomplish small things for the remainder of his term, such as increasing the allowance of barangay tanods, barangay health workers and members of the Barangay Intelligence Network (BIN).

There are more than 4,000 BIN members who aid the police in ensuring peace and order in the barangays. They receive a monthly allowance of P3,000 to P5,000 each.

Osmeña also plans to give them more equipment and a monthly allocation for cellphone cards.

In a phone interview yesterday, Guadalupe Barangay Captain and City Councilor Eugenio Faelnar said he and the mayor discussed the breaking up of Guadalupe into three barangays to make it easier for the barangay officials to manage their areas of responsibility.

He said that the mayor wants to carve another barangay from Sitio Banawa, and another from Sitio Englis to improve the delivery of services.

Population

While he is in favor of dividing Guadalupe, Faelnar said that he is not sure if the three barangays, will separately meet the required population to create another village.

“But that is what the mayor wants, because the smaller the barangay, the easier it is to manage it. Although politically, dili hinuon nindot kay mugamay man ang voters (It would mean fewer voters),” he told Sun.Star Cebu.

Faelnar said he will consult the Commission on Elections on the matter before taking it up with his barangay council and the mayor this week.

According to the National Statistics Office, the current population of Guadalupe is 47,700, and Banawa and Englis residents numbering over 23,700.

Guadalupe, Cebu City’s biggest barangay, has a land area and population comparable to an average Cebu town.

City officials have been planning to complete several projects by November, believing that Osmeña will have to resign as mayor when he files his certificate of candidacy for congressman.

But the other day, officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) clarified that only appointed government officials will have to relinquish their posts, while elected
officials can retain theirs until their term ends in June next year.

Before the campaign for the May 10, 2010 elections goes on full swing, the mayor will require further medical check-up in the US, with the first one scheduled next week.

Osmeña will be in the US for 10 days for his medical check-up at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, to check whether his urinary bladder cancer recurred.

The mayor has repeatedly reiterated that he is physically fit to run and challenge businessman Jonathan Guardo for the south district’s congressional seat. (LCR)


Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on September 1, 2009.
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Feedback: Your views and reactions

Much have been said about

Submitted by Rex Perez (not verified) on Tue, 09/01/2009 - 08:16.

Much have been said about the plan to split Barangay Guadalupe. But there's one barangay in the south district of Cebu City that also needs to be split. It is Barangay Duljo-Fatima. Barangay Duljo-Fatima is somewhat peculiar in terms of its geographical location. Duljo and Fatima is bounded by a main road artery called C. Padilla Street. And while majority of the barangay's income came from the Fatima side, residents of this area have been deprived of the barangay's basic services. All barangay officials concentrate on providing basic services (as if there's one) to Duljo residents only. I am tempted to say that these officials don't even know the Fatima side still belongs to Barangay Duljo-Fatima.

In one incident that happened only in August this year, a sitio of this barangay located at the Fatima side celebrated its annual fiesta. In their effort to raise funds, they approached the barangay captain of Duljo-Fatima, Barangay Captain Abella. In those three instances that the sitio officials tried to visit the "honorable" barangay captain, he was always out of his office. And it's even a regular working day. The fourth time they went to see the barangay captain, they were able to meet him.

But the official was very hostile to them, accusing them of making up stories that the barangay captain is always out of his office even during regular working days.

My sister, who was one of the sitio officials who went to see the barangay captain, said: "What do you want to me say, Sir? You want me to lie and say that you're always in your office...when in fact you're not?" My sister continued to say they came to the barangay office three times to see him. But in all those times, the barangay captain is not in his office.

My sister said they went to see him to ask him to sign a solicitation letter to raise funds for their annual fiesta in honor of Señor San Roque. Applying intimidation and bullying tactics, the barangay captain promptly said he will not sign the letter.

The sitio officers, lead by my sister, went on to say that other barangay captains are doing this...like in Labangon. Barangay Captain Abella arrogantly told them to have their solicitation letter signed by the barangay captain of Labangon.

This is only one incident where the barangay captain of Duljo-Fatima lords it over in the barangay. He uses intimidation and bullying tactics to make residents of this barangay fear his wrath. He forgot it was the people of his barangay that put him in that office. And yet he acts as if he is above the law already.

I am not going to tell here the other incidents he did as a barangay captain because I still have to document all these. In a proper forum, I am going to expose this inutile barangay captain of Duljo-Fatima to the public.

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