City Suspends Brgy Councilor

The Cebu City Council Committee of three is recommending the month-long suspension of Cogon-Pardo barangay councilwoman Orvilla Bacalso whom they found guilty of misconduct and dishonesty.

City Councilor Sisinio Andales, who chairs the committee that investigated the case filed against Bacalso, concluded that the latter committed lapses when she submitted new names of barangay garbage collectors to the City Hall without the knowledge of Barangay Captain Eugenio Gabuya Jr.

Gabuya originally filed his complaint for usurpation of authority under Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas but the anti-graft body referred the case to the City Council for further investigation.

The barangay captain complained because four of the barangay’s garbage collectors had been replaced by City Hall after Bacalso made a formal request and submitted the names of four new garbage collectors without his knowledge.

“In submitting new names as garbage collection personnel, respondent Bacalso in effect, was implying that there were still vacant positions of garbage collection personnel when in fact there was none,” Andales report said.

Andales said that in failing to bring up the matter to the attention of the barangay captain or council before directly submitting the replacement names to the city, Bacalso certainly acted also with deception, lack of integrity and lack of honesty.

“This was an act of betrayal to the barangay council as well as to the barangay captain,” said Andales.

The submission of the new names of garbage collectors to City Hall resulted in the suspension of the honorariums of the four original barangay garbage personnel namely Primo Sanchez, Felomino Eran, Roger Belcher and Felix Radaza who continued to work because they were not advised that they were already replaced.

The City Council decided to discuss the matter during their next session on June 26 because of the objections raised by Councilors Jose Daluz III and Edgardo Labella, both allies of Mayor Michael Rama.

Bacalso is Team Rama’s political leader in Barangay Cogon-Pardo. Daluz believes that the filing of charges against her is politically motivated because the barangay captain is an ally of the Bando Osmeña Pundok-Kauswagan.

Labella argued that Bacalso cannot be convicted of misconduct and dishonesty because the complaint lodged against her is usurpation of authority.