Osmeña announces new Ermita caretaker

DUMPIT

NO LONGER SPO1 DUMPIT

A day after Ermita residents staged a protest against the mayor’s designation of SPO1 Adonis Dumpit as their barangay caretaker, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced on Tuesday that he will be designating Carbon Market administrator lawyer Winifredo Orcullo Jr., instead.

Meanwhile, Dumpit will still be very much in the picture as he will be tasked to head a police unit assigned in Ermita, a drug prone area.

“Everyone is entitled to voice their opinion. But they (residents) cannot order me …I don’t care about acceptability. I am just interested in cleaning it (barangay) out. When we use the word acceptability, acceptable to the drug pushers?”, Osmeña asked wryly.

“We are not going to put Dumpit as caretaker but it will be Atty. Orcullo. But we are sending (a) letter to chief of police to assign Dumpit (to) help maintain peace and order in the barangay which is really my main concern anyway,” he added.

Osmeña’s announcement came in the heels of a statement by Police Regional Office (PRO-7) Director Chief Supt. Noli Taliño that should SPO1 Dumpit decide to act as barangay caretaker, he should first resign from the police force.

According to Osmeña, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is still awaiting the President’s decision on who of three people, earlier recommended by the mayor, should act as officer-in-charge (OIC).

Osmeña recommended Dumpit, former City Councilor Jun Pe and Tejero Barangay Captain Jessielou Cadungog for the post.

Meantime, Osmeña said Orcullo will act as temporary caretaker of the village who can sign payroll vouchers and other documents as soon as authority is given by the DILG.

“Other administrative concern that we have (is) to get written authority from DILG,” Osmeña added.

He said that once they have everything in place, Orcullo will assume the post immediately.

Barangay hall

It was business as usual at the Ermita barangay hall, yesterday, or several hours after supporters of suspended Ermita Barangay Captain Felicisimo “Imok” Rupinta padlocked the hall in an effort to stop SPO1 Dumpit from assuming as caretaker of the barangay.

The hall was re-opened to the public but only up to 5 p.m. while the office of the barangay tanods, which is right beside the village hall, will remain open 24 hours a day.

Ermita Barangay Captain Felicisimo Rupinta

“We made that decision even before we started to serve our suspensions so that the barangay hall will be kept clean and not just anybody can get inside to use the comfort room or sleep,” Rupinta said in Cebuano.

Although he could not personally enforce this policy, Rupinta said that this is being implemented by village workers who had been left to man the barangay in their absence.

Rupinta along with seven Ermita barangay councilors were slapped with a six-month preventive suspension by the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas following a complaint filed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the region (PDEA-7) that they had failed to help the agency in an anti-drug operation last November.

A petition for review of the decision was filed by Rupinta before the Court of Appeals (CA) last Friday. He also asked the court to issue a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO).

A hearing on Rupinta’s petition will be held at 9 a.m. on Friday, at the CA Cebu station located along Dr. Pablo Abella Street in Banawa Cebu City.