4 mayors face plaints

Four city and town mayors are facing separate complaints before the Office of the President (OP).

This prompted the Cebu Provincial Board (PB) to call out the attention of Mayors Nicepuro Apura (Carcar City), Elanito Peña (Minglanilla), Inocentes Cabaron (Moalboal), and Jose Esgana (Sta. Fe).

The complaints from several citizens were coursed through the Presidential Complaint Center (PCC), an OP's frontline desk.

According to the government's official website, the PCC serves as a liaison unit with various departments and agencies of the government and private institutions/companies on all requests for assistance, and information, as well as complaints and grievances of the general public.

All complaints were forwarded to the Office of the Governor, and PB committee on complaints and investigation (CCI) chaired by Board Member Raul Bacaltos for necessary actions.

Apura was accused of forcing landowners to sell their lands under the guise that those would be used by the city government.

Joe Serrano, the complainant, said his friends, who are constituents of the city, found out that the land titles were named after Apura and not under the city government.

"Also, they want to know where the mayor gets millions of pesos to purchase many square meters of land from the people but he only pays them P100 to P400 (per square meter)," he said.

Apura, in a phone interview, denied the allegation hurled against him, saying he did not coerce anyone to sell his/ her land to him.

He also believed that the allegation was politically motivated.

The mayor clarified though that the money used to purchase the lands came from his own pocket.

He said he is ready to face any investigation to clear his name.

Peña, on the other hand, was accused by a certain Jeffrey Sy of approving overpriced governmentfunded projects.

"Under the mayorship of Mayor Elanito Pena, corruption is still prevalent. The following of some of the glaring projects and proposed projects that are overpriced to the eyeballs," Sy said.

Based on Sy's list, the alleged overpriced projects include the P1.4 million drainage project, P480,000 multi-purpose building, demolition of a two-story building in Tungkop Elementary School, and purchase of P880,000 hematology analyzer.

He also said some dismissed public officials still have “dealings” with the government.

On the other hand, a resort owner, Challita Tabaloc, lodged a complaint against Cabaron, whom she accused of not renewing her business permit for unknown reasons.

Esgana was also accused of abusing his power by not granting Lou Batanciala's coffee shop a business permit.

Batanciala said she complied with all the requirements, including paying the necessary fees, in January 2017 but still failed to get the permit.

The FREEMAN tried to contact Peña, Cabaron and Esgana, but to no avail.

TOWN EXECS

CLEARED

Meanwhile, due to lack of merit, the PB has dismissed the administrative complaints filed against the mayor and vice mayor of Minglanilla town and six other employees over unauthorized collection of “goodwill money.”

Mayor Pena, Vice Mayor Robert John Selma, and municipal employees Dante Mananay, Maria Theresa Vidal, Lucia Tan, Ma. Jojie Capellan, Babylin Quinones, and Crisanto Muana were charged for grave abuse of authority, gross misconduct, dereliction of duty, and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The complaints were filed by Sherbie Delos Reyes and other market stall vendors on October 19, 2015.

The complainants alleged that the officials collected “goodwill money” from vendors who wished to acquire a stall inside the new public market, without any ordinance approved by the town council.

They said they were told to pay P25,000 to P45,000 to be able to secure a market stall.

But the officials denied issuing any order authorizing the collection of “goodwill money.”

According to the town's collection officer, the amounts collected were deposits for market spaces, for which receipts were issued.

Also, the market vendors reportedly had “voluntarily” given the local government the money.

A preliminary conference was held on February 3, 2016 for both parties to shed light on the issue.

Based on its findings, the PB's CCI said the complainants were “bereft of any credible substantial allegation” that the respondents have indeed ordered or authorized the collection of the goodwill money.

“Moreover, as presented by the complainants and their witnesses, the amount collected was evidenced by official receipts thus, negating any iota of corruption or the appearance that the goodwill money went somewhere else,” the committee report further read.

The PB members unanimously affirmed and approved the CCI's report last Monday.