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Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Suspend us now: Faelnar, ABC officials to Sandigan
By Rene H. Martel
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Tired of waiting for an end to the case filed against him and other officials of the Cebu City Association of Barangay Councils (ABC), Guadalupe Barangay captain Eugenio Faelnar is asking that the Sandiganbayan suspend them now.
Faelnar and 10 other barangay captains, who compose the ABC board, had asked the Sandigan-bayan last December for an extension so they could comment thoroughly on the criminal case they are facing.
The anti-graft court would have slapped them a mandatory 90-day suspension immediately after the case reached it. The suspension order came in 2004.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed by engineer Leah Rondez, who accused the officials of refusing to reimburse gasoline expenses she incurred while serving as ABC engineer.
Led by Faelnar, the members of the ABC board terminated her services along with several others when they assumed office in 2002.
But now it seems Faelnar just wants the case over and done with.
“Ipa-implement na na lang na nako kay kapoy na kaayo, hasol na sige’g tubag nya adto sa Manila. Gamay kaayo nga kaso nya pamulitika ra raba na (They might as well implement that. I’m tired of going to Manila to answer such a petty and politically motivated case),” he told Sun.Star.
A source told Sun.Star the Sandiganbayan’s resolution, whether or not the ABC board members should serve their suspension while it hears the case, could arrive by next week.
Rondez, in a separate interview, said she has been waiting for a long time to see Faelnar and the rest of the ABC board suspended.
“I’ll be happy. I’ve been suffering for years. Gamay ra ng hustisya among gipangayo (All I ask is a small measure of justice),” she said.
The ABC officials allegedly withheld her benefits when they fired her in 2002. They also allegedly refused to refund her valid gasoline expenses as ABC project engineer since 1993.
Rondez filed two complaints against the officials at the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas. The ombudsman’s office ruled that the ABC owed her a total of P122,480 in benefits and P4,300 in gasoline reimbursements, and ordered the officials’ suspension.
The administrative aspect of the complaints is with the Court of Appeals, while one criminal case is to be heard in a marathon hearing at the Sandigan-bayan from March 29 to 31.
Lately, Rondez and 13 others also filed a complaint against the current ABC officials for failing to give them terminal leave benefits upon their dismissal from service.
ABC administrative officer Tessa Cang, in an interview, said that in the event the ABC board members are suspended, Liga ng mga Barangay national president James Marty Lim will have to appoint their replacements.
If Faelnar’s wish is granted, the rest of the ABC board will have to comply.
She added, however, that even if Faelnar and the other accused are suspended, they would still serve their constituents as barangay captains, because the suspension applies only to their work as ABC officials.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 15, 2006 issue)
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