Hotel’s staff disrespected me: Mabolo chief on confrontation
Barangay Captain Prisca Niña Mabatid defends partner, says he was just protecting her from a ‘foul’ insult
Amid controversy stirred by a now-viral footage from a security camera, Mabolo Barangay Captain Prisca Niña Mabatid says she’ll never apologize and remains open to the idea of running for a seat in the Cebu City Council.
As an established businesswoman, mother and now Barangay Captain of Mabolo, Prisca Niña Mabatid said a lot of things come to mind when she wonders how people would perceive or remember her.
“(Pero) wa ko ka-imagine nga usa ko sa maaan nga pokpok (But I never imagined I would be mistaken for a prostitute),” she said in a press conference yesterday.
Flanked by her mother Salud, eldest daughter Iah and legal counsel Atty. Delon Orot, the village chief lamented that she felt violated and disrespected as a woman after she became the subject of controversy following an exchange involving her and her partner Ramon Floresta in a hotel last June 19.
A group of women also went to the City Sports Club where the press con was held and brought with them a tarpaulin that read: “Violence against woman is an appalling human rights violation. Let us put a stop to this.”
Ombudsman cases
Mabatid now faces complaints for grave misconduct, conduct unbecoming of a public officer, and conduct prejudicial to the public service in relation to Republic Act 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, filed before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas by the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, Irene Juliet Lacerna, Welbert Pepito and Edwin Acuyan last June 21.
The hotel’s staff has alleged that Mabatid and Floresta, whom they believed to be intoxicated, physically assaulted and verbally harassed the guard-on-duty and on-duty manager at the time of the incident. Mabatid, though, said she was sober when the confrontation happened.
She also alleged that the argument started because Pepito, the security guard, insinuated that she was an escort.
“When that guy approached me, nisulti gyud ko nga, ‘I am not a whore. Dili ko escort. I am Niña Mabatid. I am the barangay captain of Mabolo’. I kept on telling him that I was a regular customer and that I have a corporate account there,” Mabatid said.
“He wanted me to log in because escorts brought by hotel guests are required to log in. My action was just a result of their action as well. I was not treated well. I was mistaken as an escort and that is really a big foul,” she said.
Mabatid also came to Floresta’s defense for allegedly throwing a punch at Pepito’s right cheek and kicking the hotel staff in his stomach.
“He is a good man. He is a good person. He is a very respectable person. It’s just a normal reaction for a man to defend his girl nga naaan og (who mas mistaken for an) escort,” she said.
The barangay captain lamented that the circulation of a three-minute footage showing the altercation was unfair to her since it did not have audio, which would have shown that they were just reacting to the insult she received. She said she is considering taking legal action on the matter.
“I hope this issue will die, but I will never apologize. I am open for reconciliation,” she said.
Mabatid believes the controversy is meant to discourage her from running for president in the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) elections next week.
Despite this, she said she is open to running against Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan’s (BOPK) candidate Kasambagan Barangay Captain Franklyn Ong, and the opposition’s bet Tisa Barangay Captain and ABC president Phillip Zafra.
“Who am I to refuse the Office of the President nga mudagan? But I am not decided. I want to know if I have the numbers. I’m not saying that it’s (Cebu City) Mayor Tommy (Tomas Osmeña) who did this, but I’m 100 percent sure it’s political,” Mabatid said.
Osmeña confirmed that he has disowned Mabatid as a member of BOPK.
“She’s very unbecoming of a public official. I’ve been mayor for 30 years. That’s the worst example of somebody misbehaving. She’s flaunting her power. That’s not acceptable. I don’t care how much help you gave to me. She helped me (during the campaign for the May 2016 elections) yes, but so did the others and others don’t get drunk and punch people around,” he said.