AROUND 5,000 members of the Cebu City United Vendors Association (CCUVA) gathered yesterday at the Cebu City Sports Center to elect a new president, ending the 18-year term of Maria Pino.
Aside from the election of a new set of officers, CCUVA honorary chairman and Ermita Barangay Captain Felicisimo Rupinta wants their members to approve a resolution limiting the term of office of elected association presidents to two years.
“Among ideya, og mahimo, one term, two years lang or two terms, four years kay biannual man dinhi. Ang gisundan gud ani, perting dugaya, di gyud papuli. Di man gud mi ganahan ana kay mahimong diktador madugay (Our idea is, if possible, we’ll have one term for two years or two terms good for four years because what we have here is biannual. The predecessor here (Pino), was in the position for too long and she doesn’t want to be replaced. We don’t want a leader who will turn into a dictator in the long run,” he said in an interview with Sun.Star Cebu.
There are 67 sub-organizations under CCUVA in the city, each having its own set of officers.
Pino was ousted for allegedly not performing her official function last June through a resolution and petition signed by 96 officers from CCUVA’s subgroups.
“What happened was, she made another federation. She was ousted because she betrayed CCUVA. Her federation, called Federation of Sidewalk Vendors Cebu City Inc., is even registered already,” Rupinta said in Cebuano.
“I think she also noticed that only very few members attend the meetings she calls. If she does a financial report, there are deficits. What happened was, the president was also the one holding the collections. It was only until we had a caretaker that collections and finances became transparent,” he said.
Pino, in a separate interview, declined to comment on her alleged dictatorship but clarified that she is for having a term limit to give others a chance to lead.
Understanding
She, however, lamented that a consultation would’ve been ideal so that CCUVA members could have a better understanding of the process.
As for her alleged founding of a new vendors’ organization, Pino denied it. She said she could not do that to CCUVA, in whom she “invested sweat, tears and blood.”
“I will never do that. I love CCUVA and my vendors. I’ll just be mum about it and leave everything. I’d rather sell goods,” she said.
Before the feud between them broke, Rupinta and Pino were allies. In 2009, Pino filed Rupinta’s certificate of candidacy in the Commission on Elections office when the latter ran for city councilor as an independent candidate.
Meanwhile, Jose Rabaca and Matt Alolod have been elected as internal and external presidents, respectively.