SK chair sues captain, treasurer

A village chief and treasurer of a barangay in Santander town in southern Cebu are now facing a complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas for allegedly withholding the funds for Sangguniang Kabataan (SK).

El Cid Rusiana, the SK chairperson of Barangay Talisay, filed the complaint before the anti-graft office after barangay captain Margarito Onlagada Jr. and treasurer Cherry Garingo, despite repeated requests, allegedly failed to separate from the general fund the budget allocated for SK’s operations amounting to P245,082.

The amount represents 10 percent of the general fund plus 10 percent of all other incomes of the barangay.

In his complaint, Rusiana said he intended that the funds be deposited separately in a governmentowned bank under the name of “SK of Barangay Talisay, Santander, Cebu” as provided for under the law.

He cited Republic Act 10742 or Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act of 2015, which states that the “SK shall have financial independence in its operations, disbursements, and encashments of their fund, income and expenditures.”

Rusiana said he had been asking for the separation of their own budget since he assumed office as the duly-elected SK chairman in his barangay but to no avail.

Instead, he said, he was given a copy of the Annual Barangay Youth Investment Program, which Onlagada and Garingo already prepared.

He said the officials’ act of giving him the youth investment program document, which they made without his permission, was “a direct affront to his office.”

Rusiana is asking the Ombudsman for immediate resolution of his complaint. The office is expected to summon the respondents to air their side of the story.

The FREEMAN tried but failed to reach Onlagada and Garingo as this story was written yesterday.