"THERE is a standing order that all the barangay officials should abide by the policies and regulations, especially to disperse the financial transactions that should be above board."
This was stressed by Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez on Wednesday, September 4, after the Office of the Ombudsman ordered the three-month suspension of Barangay 7 chieftain Hercy Sibug, her husband, Kagawad Bernabe Sibug, and the barangay treasurer, Edmar Base, in Bacolod City for simple misconduct.
"We have a standing order that we will monitor the barangays report every month because that is the requirement," Benitez said.
He said the barangay officials should follow the law.
The order, which was served by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Bacolod to the respondents on Monday, September 3, 2024, stated that finding substantial evidence for simple misconduct against Hercy, her husband, Bernabe, and Base meted the penalty of suspension from the government service for three months without pay.
The complaint was filed by Cresenciano Torres, a businessman in Bacolod City, on June 27, 2023.
The order dated July 16, 2024, was approved by Dante Vargas, Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas.
The order, which was served by the DILG-Bacolod to the respondents on Monday, September 3, 2024, stated that finding substantial evidence for simple misconduct against Hercy, her husband, Bernabe, and Base meted the penalty of suspension from the government service for three months without pay.
The complainant claimed that sometime in 2019, Bernabe introduced his wife, respondent Hercy, and responded Base to him.
They obtained a loan from the complainant in the amount of P140,000 to be used to pay salaries and wages of the barangay council and employees, including the barangay tanods and barangay health workers.
The DILG already notified Kagawad Christian Jake Arenas to take an oath and assume as acting village chief within the period of suspension. (MAP)