Urban poor group files rap v. Bucao, 9 dads

Talisay City Vice Mayor Alan Bucao and nine other members of the council are facing charges before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas for allegedly violating Republic Act 7160, or The Local Government Code of 1991.

Officials and members of the City of Talisay Federation of Homeowners’ Association Inc. (CT-FEDHOA), an urban poor homeowners’ group, accused Bucao and the other city officials of sitting on its application for accreditation as people’s organization for more than three months already.

Aside from Bucao, also named in the complaint are Councilors Arturo Bas, Socrates Fernandez, Gail Restauro, Manuel Cabriana, Rodi Cabigas, Valeriano Ylanan, Richard Francis Aznar, Julian Daan and Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) president Raul Cabañero. Councilors Doroteo Emit and Jojo Bacaltos were excluded in the complaint.

Emit, who used to chair the council committee on urban poor and housing, supported CT-FEDHOA’s entry as a legitimate peoples’ organization. Bacaltos, on the other hand, also supported Emit’s call to approve CT-FEDHOA’s accreditation.

Diel Lanzon, CT-FEDHOA chair- person, said that his group got disappointed with Bucao and the nine councilors because of their failure to approve the group’s request for accreditation.

Lanzon said that the association already complied all the requirements set by the council committee on accreditation.

Lanzon said that the association has a legal personality as it is registered before the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB).

Lanzon said that the council deferred the approval of their accreditation and reportedly decided to seek the opinion of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) on the matter.

Sought for comment, Cabañero, who heads the committee on accreditation for peoples’ organizations, said that the council decided to seek the DILG opinion because the group was only organized early this year, and there is also a question on the sustainability of the group.

Bucao, on the other hand, denied the group’s accusation that the council deliberately delayed their accreditation.

Bucao believes that the filing of the complaint is politically motivated.