Osmeña Warns Filing Charges Against Brgy Ermita Officals over irregular Market Fees

Cebu City South District Rep. Tomas R. Osmeña has warned that once he will be elected again as city mayor during the May 13 Automated National and Local Elections he will be filing charges against the barangay officials of Ermita for collecting market fees from the vendors without issuing them official receipts.

Osmeña who is challenging the reelection bid of Mayor Michael Rama had received numerous complaints from the vendors who strongly believed that the collections from them will just be pocketed by some unscrupulous barangay officials because they were not issued with official receipts.

MetroCebuNews tried, but failed to contact Ermita Barangay Captain Antonieto Flores for him to explain about the matter, because he was out of office yesterday. Even his secretary and the one who answered the phone did not give his mobile phone number.

Osmeña said once he will be elected as mayor he will immediately order an investigation into the matter and to identify the barangay officials who might be involved in the pocketing of the collections.

Some Carbon market vendors are complaining because they are paying market fees to the city, through its collectors from the City Treasurer’s Office and the barangay will also collect fees from them, including a vendors association operating in Ermita.

According to Osmeña he want to protect the rights of the market vendors that they will not be victimized by some unscrupulous persons that probably involves barangay officials.

Osmeña, however, said he want to find out who ordered the collections of fees from the market vendors without issuing them official receipts to ensure that the amount collected will go to the government coffers.

Meanwhile, the lawmaker also said Market Administrator Raquel Arce would be the first City Hall employee to be “demolished” by him once he assumes back at the City Hall because of Arce’s strict attitude against the vendors and to other urban poor residents.

“I will make sure that Arce will be put to BBRC,” Osmeña said while smiling, but when asked to elaborate, he explained that he will not assign Arce to city jail, but he will stop her abuses against the vendors.

Mayor Michael Rama said there is nothing new because he already know that once his political rival will win, thousand of his supporters in City Hall will be terminated from their jobs.