Thursday, November 22, 2007 Tomas’ 2 allies face off over demolition issues
A BREWING conflict between two allies of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña may end in a legal battle.
The mayor’s consultant on urban poor concerns, Gerry Marquez, wants to file a libel complaint against Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) president Eugenio Faelnar.
In an interview yesterday, Marquez challenged Faelnar to prove in court that he received money from sidewalk vendors who were spared from clearing operations of City Hall.
Faelnar allegedly made the statement in an interview with a local tabloid reporter last week.
Complaint
An irate Marquez said he wants to file a libel suit to clear his name, but he still has to discuss with his lawyer if the published article will suffice as evidence in court. He also plans to file a complaint against the reporter and publisher of the tabloid.
“I’m challenging him to identify who the vendors are, from what area and how much they gave me. It’s such an irresponsible statement coming from an honorable official. He really maligned my integrity so he has to prove that in court,” he told reporters yesterday.
In the news report, Faelnar was quoted as saying that Marquez would not have stopped the demolition of some sidewalk vendors’ stalls if he has not been receiving money from the vendors.
But Faelnar, who sits as ex-officio member of the City Council, denied he made such a statement.
Libelous
“I was simply asking why he stopped a demolition, na basin naay gi-depensaan, basin dunay kwarta. Libelous ba diay na?
(Maybe he is defending someone and maybe there’s money involved.) And why is he acting like a crybaby? We are both working in government, I never said anything when issues were raised against me before,” he said in a phone interview.
The difference between the two officials stemmed from Faelnar’s move to have sidewalk vendors’ stalls in the city demolished because of the traffic they cause.
Although sidewalk vending is illegal, Marquez said City Hall tolerates them up to a certain level because of their economic situation. (LCR)
