Monday, November 03, 2008
Barangay councilor sued over land feud
A FEUD over an encroached property and squatters’ relocation has led to a grave abuse of authority complaint against a barangay councilor.
Mellany Quibranza asked the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to investigate Hipodromo, Cebu City Barangay Councilor Tommy Isidto and sought the filing of criminal and administrative charges against him.
The conflict stemmed from a demolition order issued six years ago.
According to the complaint, Quibranza’s parents owned a 5,712-square-meter lot in Sitio Cahipa, half of which was expropriated by the City Government while the other half was occupied by squatters.
In 2002, Regional Trial Court Judge Gil Acosta issued against the illegal settlers a writ of demolition, which was implemented a year later.
Squatters eventually returned to the area, however.
Quibranza alleged that on June 17, she went to Cahipa to supervise its marking for the construction of a fence.
She said she was told that Isidto removed the marker placed there by a hired geodetic engineer, whom the barangay councilor accused of making an erroneous survey.
Quibranza further said that on June 26, Isidto returned to the area with barangay garbage truck driver Eddie Rosal and allegedly kicked their newly-piled hollow blocks.
The workers, who were fencing the property, were alarmed over what Isidto and Rosal did, she said.
The act prompted her to file the complaint, saying that as a public official, Isidto was “setting a bad example.”
Quibranza said Ombudsman-Visayas Director Virginia Palanca-Santiago already called her and Isidto to a conference twice.
On the second meeting, Isidto reportedly brought with him Cahipa residents, who protested against the demolition of their homes. (KAB)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (November 3, 2008 issue)
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