Radaza's office at City Hall 'boarded up'

Photo contributed by Randy Gorion.
Photo contributed by Randy Gorion.

LAPU-LAPU City Rep. Paz Radaza and members of her staff will have a hard time entering their office, which is located on the second floor of the City Hall building, after it was covered by wood paneling on Monday afternoon, August 12.

According to James Sayson, Lapu-Lapu City legal officer, they were only complying with the legal opinion that Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan received from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), which stated that City Ordinance (CO) 14-200-2019, which provides an office space for Radaza at City Hall to serve as her district office, was “ineffective and invalid.”

The DILG opinion said the ordinance could not be considered effective since it was not published in accordance with the Local Government Code.

It also stated that the power to allocate and assign offices at City Hall belongs to the mayor and not to the City Council.

Sayson said Radaza's staff could enter the office to secure some documents but they had to coordinate with the City Legal Office.

He said they were barred from entry because the office was now under the Office of the Mayor.

Last Friday, Aug. 9, Chan sent another notice to Radaza to vacate the office after receiving the legal opinion of the DILG.

“There’s a process that we will observe tomorrow (Tuesday, Aug. 13). That’s one thing we will discuss if they reach out to our office kay gibutang man sa order ni Mayor nga kung naa silay kuhaon kinahanglan makabawo ang (because the mayor had said that if they needed anything inside the office they must inform the) office of the city attorney, so we will just devise a scheme nga ug naa silay ipagawas mapagawas nila (if they need to take some things out),” Sayson said.

Radaza, for her part, was surprised by the move, pointing out that there's a pending case in court on the matter.

Three persons identified as Teobanes Patalinghug, Humprey Elvira and Abzyl Bechayda filed a case to annul CO 14-200-2019 against Radaza and her allies before the Regional Trial Court Branch 70.

Radaza earlier pointed out that the DILG was merely stating an “opinion” when it said she had no right to an office at City Hall and not an “order” against her.

She said the opinion could not disregard the city ordinance.

Meanwhile, Radaza instructed her staff to report to the office on Tuesday morning, Aug. 13.

“But then again we are almost used to surprises from our Honorable Mayor. With all these, he seems to have the tendency to abuse, but our service to the people will continue,” Radaza said in Cebuano. (With PJB)

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