Ermita caretaker visits as brgy officials face delay in stopping suspension order

SPO1 Adonis Dumpit (second from left) accompanies lawyer Winefredo Orcullo Jr. (right), Ermita’s new caretaker, during his visit at barangay hall.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA

ON THE day that Ermita Barangay Captain Felicisimo Rupinta and the seven other barangay officials were contesting their suspension in the Court of Appeals and failing to stop it because of documentary discrepancies, Cebu City’s market administrator also showed up at the barangay hall on his first day as Ermita’s caretaker, albeit with a few surprises.

Lawyer Winefredo Orcullo Jr., the man appointed by Mayor Tomas Osmeña as the barangay’s caretaker, was surprised to find out that the gate to the second floor of the barangay hall was chained and secured with a padlock.

Orcullo was also surprised that there were no barangay employees and workers at the hall aside from the barangay secretary.

He was later informed that the employees were at the Court of Appeals for the hearing of the petition for the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) filed by Rupinta and the other suspended officials.

But the CA did not hear the TRO of the barangay officials, citing discrepancies in their petition, which they filed through their lawyer Paul Gino Lopez last Feb. 3.

“Ipa-correct nila ang document usa sila mohatag sa ilahang decision (The CA wants us to correct our documents before deciding on the petition),” Rupinta said.

The Ombudsman meted a six-month preventive suspension against Rupinta and the other barangay officials after the the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) filed a complaint against them for dereliction of duty.

PDEA-7 claimed in its complaint that the barangay officials failed to help them during an anti-drug operation in a so-called “shabu tiangge” in Ermita last Nov. 6 where at least P800,000 worth of shabu was confiscated and Richard Canete, the suspected tiangge operator, was arrested.

Lopez said that they had at least four discrepancies in their documents, which would include impleading PDEA-7 in their complaint.

“Our next step is to comply what has been required like the notarial commission, we failed to indicate the city or province in the proof of service and of course to implead the PDEA,” Lopez said.

Orcullo was accompanied by Department of Interior and Local Government representatives and SPO1 Adonis Dumpit in his visit yesterday.

“We will not insist on having the gate opened, but I informed the secretary that I am here not as a caretaker but as an official representative of the mayor because the mayor has general supervision over the barangays under Section 32 of the Local Government Code,” said Orcullo in Cebuano.

For his part, Rupinta, who visited Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella at noon yesterday, said that they did not expect Orcullo to visit the barangay.

He said that Orcullo contacted him on Thursday, but the meeting with him did not push through.

Meanwhile, Labella checked on the barangay in the afternoon and found the barangay workers already at work and the padlocked gate opened.