Councilor to sue absentee colleagues

By: Emme Rose Santiagudo

ONLY eight councilors from Team ‘Arangka’ of Mayor Jose Espinosa III and Team ‘AlGoNa’ (Alim-Gonzalez-Nava) were present in the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s regular session on Tuesday.

This was the fourth time that Team ‘Uswag’ members Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon, Councilors Love Baronda, Ely Estante, Armand Parcon, Irene Ong, and Jay Treñas were absent from the SP session.

Because of their continued absent, Councilor Plaridel Nava said he will be filing administrative cases on the ground of dereliction of duty and conduct prejudicial to the interest of the service against the absentee councilors.

In an interview, Nava said he will be filing the administrative cases with the Ombudsman this week.

“Na-delay lang ang pag-prepare sang draft but we will definitely file it before Friday or before elections,” he said.

According to Nava, their initial plan was to raise their complaints to the Office of the President.

“Gusto ni Councilor Alim didto sa Office of the President because the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) assured us that they will act on it immediately but considering nga election period, basi indi na naton maabot, so sa Ombudsman na lang para biskan ano matabo ara gihapon ang kaso,” he said.

Nava slammed the ‘Uswag’ councilors for their continued absence saying they do not deserve the peoples’ votes.

“I cannot understand why. Like subong wala naman sila, tapos na ang issue sa tubig pero they continue to boycott. In times like this, pwede man after elections ma-absent kun wala sila malain nga motibo. It validates the fact nga indi sila maasahan sang tawo. They don’t deserve any vote from the people,” he stressed.

According to Nava, many items in the agenda were not approved because of the 2/3 votes requirement.

“Subong damo damo items but yet, they are not here. Damo agenda wala naaprubahan because wala kami numbers to suspend. We need 2/3 of the votes. Since kulang, damo nahalitan nga tricycle drivers since wala maaprobahan ila franchise so wala sila pakaon sa ila pamilya. Amo man na ang road closure, kay damo activities subong like mga fun run so amo na epekto sang ila absence and the people should realize that,” he lamented.

The eight councilors present in the session were Candice Magdalane Tupas who presided the  session, Nava, Alim, Lyndon Acap, R Leone Gerochi, Mandrie Malabor, Plaridel Nava, Eduardo Peñaredondo, and Leizl Zulueta-Salazar.