Zafra ouster persists

The call to oust Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) president Philip Zafra from his seat as ex-officio member of the Cebu City Council continues.

While the first effort to have Zafra vacate his seat may have been withdrawn by Councilor Sisinio Andales from the council last Tuesday, the ABC chief may not be off the hook yet.

This came after Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced yesterday that Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) will be taking legal actions to push for Zafra’s removal from the council.

Osmeña said the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has been very clear in its memorandum dated Sept. 6.

The DILG said that Republic Act (RA) 10923, or the law that postponed the October 2016 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, directed the holdover of all incumbent barangay officials, without similar extension on their ex-officio representation at the municipal, city and provincial councils.

With this, the mayor said Zafra’s term already expired last June 2016, or at the time when the 13th Sangguniang Panlungsod assumed office.

“The law is very clear, I almost memorized it. He is expired, so he has no business sitting there (in the council). That’s the law,”

Osmeña said.

He alleged that Zafra’s stay in the council is “illegal,” and that the latter should refund his salaries starting from June last year.

Asked if the move to oust Zafra is an effort for the administration to get hold again of the majority bloc in the council, Osmeña gave a brief affirmation.

“Yes, I think so. Precisely,” he said.

Following the resignation of Nendel Hanz Abella from the council, both Barug Team Rama and BOPK now have eight councilors.

In case of a tie, Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella as the presiding officer, will be the tie breaker. Labella is a member of the opposi- tion.

But when Abella’s replacement assumes office, the tables will be turning in favor of Barug Team Rama, reclaiming their seats in the majority.

Sought for comment, Zafra stood pat that under jurisprudence, he still holds authority to sit as ex-officio member in the council.

He said that a memorandum dated Sept. 10 from the Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas directed all chapters not to hold any elections unless and until the Liga, through the national executive board, makes an announcement and authorizes the holding of polls.

Zafra said there is no other mo- tive behind the efforts to have him removed, but for the BOPK to regain the upper hand in the council.

“Since last week, I have been receiving feelers from people inside asking me to transfer party affiliation. For me, it’s not important to shift party alliances because I only want to serve the public regardless of affiliation,” he said. /