Saturday, March 29, 2008 Suspended mayor charged with sedition
VICE Mayor Jonas Cruz of Rodriguez, Rizal filed sedition charges against suspended Mayor Pedro Cuerpo and several municipal councilors before the Rizal Provincial Prosecutors Office, saying the embattled local chief executive "planned and effectively carried out" a public and tumultuous uprising when he and his supporters staged a takeover of Municipal Hall last Monday.
In his complaint, Cruz, who is the acting Rodriguez mayor, said the action by Cuerpo and his supporters was "more than being an obvious breach of peace," adding that the move was calculated to prevent the Rodriguez Municipal Government from carrying out its daily functions and operations.
The vice mayor cited the manner by which Cuerpo acted as he entered and remained holed up inside his office at the town hall.
"Cuerpo planned and effectively carried out a public and tumultuous uprising wherein a great number of people led by the suspended mayor, by force and intimidation, entered the municipal building," Cruz said.
He said he was obliged to suspend the regular operations and services of the Municipal Government for two days to protect the employees and his constituents from the "chaotic" takeover of Cuerpo.
"Sedition is a crime committed by a person who rise publicly and tumultuously in order to attain by force, intimidation, or by other means outside of the legal methods to prevent the national, provincial, or municipal governments or any public officer from freely exercising its or his functions, or prevent the execution of any administrative order," Cruz explained.
The standoff prevented Cruz from assuming the Rodriguez mayoral post. Cuerpo remained holed up in his office since Monday while Cruz was in another room holding fort while policemen maintained a tight security in and outside the town hall.
Cuerpo who asserted his right to enter the government building has remained defiant and vowed to stay in his office.
"I will stay in my office and I hope that the proper authorities have already heard the voice of the people of Rodriguez," he said.
The mayor said his suspension order should have been stayed since he has already written President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo urging her to lift the order.
Aside from sedition, Cuerpo and several municipal councilors were also charged with resistance and disobedience to persons in authority.
Three security personnel, two of which were injured in the shooting incident that happened during the alleged forcible entry by the Cuerpo supporters, joined in the filing of the complaint.
The tension at Municipal Hall stemmed from Cuerpo's questioning of his 60-day suspension and his replacement by Cruz. Cuerpo was suspended over a tiff on control of the town's 14-hectare sanitary landfill.
The Rizal Provincial Government headed by Governor Casimiro "Junjun" Ynares III suspended the mayor after the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and a private garbage hauler complained about the raise in the tipping fee imposed by the Rodriguez Municipal Government on garbage trucks ferrying wastes to the landfill. (AH/Sunnex)
