(UPDATED)THE village chief of Barangay Bankal, Lapu-Lapu City, and four councilors have cried foul over their six-month administrative suspension related to the graft charges filed against them before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas.
Bankal Barangay Captain Eduardo L. Cuizon, who is also the president of the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) in the city, said in a press conference on Monday, July 24, 2023, that they were not given any notice by the City Council about the suspension, thus depriving them of the chance to answer.
Cuizon said they believe the issuance of the suspension order dated Friday, July 21, 2023, is politically motivated, as he and his allies in the barangay council are running in the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataang Elections on Oct. 30. Cuizon is not an ally of Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan.
The Office of the City Mayor served the suspension order to Cuizon and the Bids and Awards Committee members, Bankal Councilors Regino C. Cuizon, Cleofas A. Quijano, Manuel L. Cuizon and Mario C. Inot on Friday. This came after the two-month preventive suspension that was implemented last May ended on July 20.
Cuizon urged the City Council to conduct an investigation, saying that City Ordinance 13-007 2013 gives “officials the right to be served notice of any suspension and to give a relevant explanation for their side for eight days before its implementation.”
The village chief also pointed out that the order issued by the Office of the Mayor wrongly states that they are officials of Barangay Pajac. He said Pajac Barangay Captain Johanna Ybañez Capangpangan is also facing a separate administrative charge.
City Legal Officer James Allan Sayson said in a separate interview that the mention of Pajac in the order was just a typographical error, and new copies of the order will be furnished to the barangay officials.
For his part, Mayor Chan said he just followed the protocol—he issued the suspension order as it was the City Council’s recommendation. The council is dominated by the mayor’s allies. Cuizon, an ex-officio member being an ABC chief, is an ally of former Lapu-Lapu City representative Paz Radaza, Chan’s political rival.
“I am not a part of the City Council. If he alleged that he was not called and not given a chance to explain his side, I think the council can answer for that. But it is impossible for the council not to give him a chance to answer,” Chan said in Cebuano.
Chan said the order is final and executory in accordance with Section 61c of the Local Government Code, which states: “Complaint against any elective Barangay official shall be filed before the Sangguniang Panlungsod or Sangguniang Bayan concerned whose decision shall be final and executory.”
The mayor further said that only a temporary restraining order from the court or an order from the Office of the President can prevent his office from implementing the suspension order.
On March 2, 2022, Cuizon and the four councilors served a two-month preventive suspension after a concerned citizen filed charges against them for violations of Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code (Malversation of Funds) and Sections 3 and 4 of Republic Act 3019 (the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas.
The charges were related to Barangay Bankal’s procurement of about 294 boxes of Vitamin C supplements during the Covid-19 pandemic, which amounted to P285,000.
The administrative aspect of the case was forwarded to the City Council in August 2022. The investigation on the case’s criminal aspect is still ongoing at the Ombudsman.
This story has been updated to correct the amount of Vitamin C supplements. It is P285,000, not P47 million as earlier reported.