Saturday, March 03, 2007 Barangay blames Ouano for cutoff By Aledel Gonzalez-Cuizon Sun.Star Staff Reporter
THE Ouano camp in Mandaue City was again accused of political harassment after a barangay captain who used to be allied with them claimed that the barangay hall’s electricity supply was cut.
A basketball goal bearing the name of incumbent City Councilor and mayoral aspirant Jonas Cortes installed in Barangay Umapad was also removed.
Centro Barangay Captain Fiorello Latonio told Sun.Star Cebu the barangay hall didn’t have electricity last Thursday.
Latonio used to be an ally of the Ouanos but in January, he defected to the Cortes camp and announced his plan to run for city councilor.
In an interview with TV Patrol Central Visayas, he said that if the reason for cutting off the electricity supply was his defection to the other party, the barangay should have been spared.
He also said that if the barangay has been illegally tapping electricity, the Visayan Electric Company should be the one to cut the electricity connection.
In the dark
The Centro Barangay Council had to use candles when it held its session last Thursday night.
Cortes also told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday that a basketball goal he donated to a group of players in Umapad was removed last Thursday afternoon.
The players were forced to stop their game when barangay tanods and some policemen arrived to remove the goals. The incident was recorded using a mobile phone camera.
Umapad Barangay Captain Zaldy Lumapas is an ally of the Ouanos.
Basketball
Cortes said these are “desperate moves” employed by the Ouano camp against him.
“Sobra na kaayo. Ni-reflect lang ni kung unsa sila pagkatawo... Nangampanya na hinuon sila nako (This just reflects what sort of people they are. With their behavior, they’ll sway voters in my favor),” he said.
Cortes said he has been donating basketball goals to different barangays in the city.
Mayor Thadeo Ouano, however, claimed that the incident involving the Centro Barangay Hall was not harassment.
The mayor is fielding his son Thadeo Jovito “Jonkie” Ouano to run for mayor against Cortes.
Ouano said the barangay hall tapped electricity from the connection of the nearby City Health Office, which has already incurred huge electricity bills.
“We’re just implementing the law, that’s why I am perceived to be a strict mayor,” he said.
Names
But in a separate interview, City Health Officer Oscar Quirante said he is not aware of the issue regarding the electricity supply of the barangay hall.
The City Health Office gets an average monthly electricity bill of P21,000.
For his part, Lumapas said he only wanted to have the goals removed because the barangay bought its own basketball goals that might be delivered today.
Besides, the people who installed the goals didn’t seek his permission.
Lumapas told Sun.Star Cebu that last Thursday afternoon, he was told that basketball goals bearing Cortes’ name were installed in the basketball court that the barangay built.
He instructed the barangay tanods to remove them but the people who put them up reportedly went on installing them.
Lumapas then sought police assistance in removing the goals.
He also said that he doesn’t like the goals in the barangays to bear a candidate’s name.
Aside from the fact that he is an Ouano supporter, Lumapas also pointed out that the other basketball goals in the area bear the name of the barangay, and not any politician’s name.
