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Friday, April 28, 2006
ABC gets yet another president
The current head of the Cebu City Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) is neither Guadalupe Barangay Captain Eugenio Faelnar nor Mambaling’s Rodolfo Estella.
The ABC board appointed Pahina Central Barangay Captain Sisinio Andales as acting president. Mayor Tomas Osmeña swore him in.
Faelnar was the elected president while Estella was elected by the ABC assembly to serve as caretaker ABC president when Faelnar was suspended along with nine others.
Faelnar opted to maintain the status quo, which means he’ll continue serving their mandatory 90-day suspension. He will wait for an order from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) lifting the suspension.
It was the DILG that implemented the suspension, he said, so it follows that the DILG must also be the one to hold it in abeyance.
Implication
The Cebu City Council, however, is reminding him of the legal implication of his move.
Councilor Edgardo Labella said Faelnar could be held in contempt for defying the mayor’s order, which was based on a Sandiganbayan resolution dated March 22.
Labella is head of the committee on laws, ordinances, public accountability and good governance.
In the resolution, the Sandiganbayan advised Osmeña to lift the suspension while it deliberates on the motion for reconsideration the ABC filed against the suspension.
Reimbursement
The suspension was imposed while the Sandigan hears the criminal case against the ABC officials. The case stemmed from the complaint of former ABC engineer Leah Rondez, who was fired in 2002.
Faelnar and the ABC board officials refused to grant Rondez’s request for reimbursement of gasoline expenses totaling P4,300, which she incurred while working for the ABC.
Last May 17, Faelnar, Andales, and eight other ABC board officials started serving the suspension, which DILG implemented through Osmeña.
The mayor, in an April 7 order, lifted the suspension upon receiving the March 22 Sandiganbayan resolution. He then ordered the ABC officials to report back to work, both in the ABC and in their respective barangays.
The ABC board, acting on Faelnar’s wish, appointed Andales as acting ABC president last April 17.
Faelnar said he will continue with the suspension pending receipt of a DILG order telling him to stop serving it.
In its regular session last Wednesday, the City Council, through Labella, expressed concern that Faelnar may be courting the ire of the Sandiganbayan.
“I think it is not quite accurate for member Faelnar to say he will still await for the DILG. If you do not comply with the order, you will be cited with contempt,” he said.
Neither Faelnar nor Andales was present during the session. Nobody also represented the ABC in last week’s City Council session.
Credentials
“This is a very categorical Sandiganbayan order. We would like to remind member Faelnar of the possible implication of his action,” Labella said.
Vice Mayor Michael Rama, council presiding officer, also asked that Andales “bring his credentials for his assumption.”
Estella, who was elected by the ABC assembly to serve as caretaker ABC president, sat first as an observer when he showed up in the council.
It was because Rama wanted an opinion from the DILG that it was okay for him to represent the ABC.
If it will be Andales who will join the session, Rama also wants that such action has clearance from the DILG. (RHM)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 28, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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