Osmeña to sue Ermita officials, tanods

CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said the city would file a case against Barangay Ermita officials and tanods for allegedly being involved in an “extortion racket” after they collected P10 from the vendors at Unit 1 of Carbon Public Market.

In a press conference yesterday, Mayor Osmeña said he would not tolerate such deceitful operation.

The mayor said he already signed the complaint, but had not filed it yet.

In previous reports, the daily market collection of Barangay Ermita began in 2002 affecting around 4,000 vendors in the area which Osmeña called as an “extortion.”

Some vendors have raised this issue to the city government after Ermita tanods prevented them from selling along Quezon Boulevard in Sitio Bato, to clear the area from any obstruction.

The vendors said this happened when they refused to pay the P10 daily collection by the barangay.

According to Ermita barangay captain Felicimo “Imok” Rupinta, the daily collection is only voluntary and vendors are not forced to pay it.

City Councilor Dave Tumulak, chair of the committee on police and enforcement matters, said the stubs issued by the barangay to vendors after paying the P10 collection could not be honored as official receipts and could not be accounted by the City Accounting Office.

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