Suspended brgy chief to do volunteer work at City Hall

BUENDIA

WHILE Labangon Barangay Captain Victor Buendia is suspended for six months, he will be helping Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña as a volunteer in implementing programs in the city.

Buendia, a known Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) ally, will supervise some of the city’s programs.

Osmeña said Buendia would tighten up the Kapilya Community.

As part of disaster preparedness, Osmeña said he was planning to distribute fire extinguishers to all chapels in the barangays of the city.

“Every kapilya (chapel) has a set of officers. We are going to organize them so that they will discuss among themselves who will be responsible for the fire extinguisher,” Osmeña said.

The mayor said the city would bid out the procurement of the fire extinguisher units. Three thousand units will be purchased.

The city would also provide trainers who would teach the community how to use the equipment, he said.

“I need someone to supervise the whole pulong-pulong. So I think Buendia, being a barangay official, will be used to that. I think he can do the job,” Osmeña said.

He added that he would personally shoulder Buendia’s allowance since the whole program would be “volunteer work.”

He said he would not put into waste Buendia’s being voted as one of the Most Outstanding Barangay Captains in Region 7.

“We will use his ability. Instead of just concentrating in Labangon, he will concentrate in the whole city,” Osmeña said.

The Office of the Ombudsman Visayas suspended Buendia including three other barangay officials for evicting and demolishing vendor stalls at the Labangon Public Market two years ago.