VM to Refer Case of Brgy. Officials to Ombudsman

Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella had already sent a letter to Acting Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Rodolfo Elman asking that the administrative complaints filed against the barangay officials in the city will be handled only by the anti-graft investigators instead of referring them to the City Council.

Both the City Council and the Ombudsman have the concurrent jurisdiction in the investigation of administrative cases filed against the barangay officials in their respective places.

Section 61 of the Local Government Code provides that “a complaint against any elective barangay officials shall be filed before the Sanguniang Panlungsod or Sanguniang Bayan concerned whose decision shall be final and executory.”

Meanwhile, Section 13 of Republic Act 6770 or the Ombudsman Act also provides that “the Ombudsman and his deputies, as protectors of the people, shall act promptly on complaints filed in any form or manner against officers or employees of the government.”

Labella said while the City Council is very willing to investigate cases filed against the barangay officials, but they have noted that some of the complainants have a perception of bias on the part of the members of the investigating body for or against the respondents in the case.

He explained that the perception, whether real or imagined, arises because of the similar political nature of the positions of the SP members conducting the investigation and that of the respondents who are both elected by the people of the same political entity.

“The City Council, out of its concern on preserving the trust and confidence of the people in the integrity of disciplinary proceedings against public officials and employees, was constrained to request the Office of the Ombudsman for the Visayas to assume sole jurisdiction over administrative cases against elective barangay officials of Cebu City,” the vice mayor said.

The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas usually refers the complaints that they have received from the public to the City Council for further action that also prompted the city legislators to form a committee composed of three councilors to look into the case.

During the past weeks, the Cebu City Council had received numerous referrals of cases from the Ombudsman against several barangay officials in the city who were accused of committing administrative and criminal cases.

The policy of the City Council is that if the respondents are officials of the barangays in the south district, it will be referred to a committee of three councilors that are from the north district to avoid possible biases. The committee of three councilors from the south district will also handle cases barangay officials from the north.