9 months since Reluya ambush-slay, ABC chief post remains vacant, unrepresented in San Fernando council

CEBU CITY, Phillipines — Barangays in the southern town of San Fernando in Cebu remain unrepresented in their town council, almost nine months since the demise of Liga ng mga Barangay (LNB) president Ricardo “Nonoy” Reluya Jr.

So how do the barangay captains raise their concerns to the council?

Vice Mayor Ricci Regen Reluya said the village chiefs have to write individual concern letters addressed to the council to ask for assistance for their barangays.

“They usually write letters of concern to me and then we assign them to the proper committees so that it would still be addressed but it would still be better if there’s a representative gyud,” Vice Mayor Reluya told CDN Digital.

Read more: Top posts in San Fernando’s LnB still vacant 2 months since the Reluya ambush-slay

Read more: Bloody night in Talisay City claims 4 lives, including town mayor’s husband

The LNB president of a locality sits as an ex-officio member of the council to represent the villages.

The LNB seat in San Fernando municipal council has been vacant since January 22, 2019, when the elder Reluya was killed in an ambush along the national highway of Barangay Linao in Talisay City. The ambush also took the lives of two town employees – driver Allan Bayot and municipal investment officer Ricky Monterona. It also injured his wife, San Fernando Mayor Lakambini “Neneth” Reluya.

No one has taken former councilor Reluya’s post because his vice president, Johnny Arriesgado of Barangay Magsico, was also killed in another ambush a week before Reluya was gunned down.

Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Cebu Provincial Director Jerome Gonzales explained that the rule on succession in the LNB is only up to the vice president level. Hence, the LNB San Fernando will need to conduct a special elections in order to fill in the late councilor’s post.

The LNB San Fernando has sent a letter to the National Executive Committee of the LNB through the LNB-Cebu Province shortly before the May 2019 elections requesting approval for the conduct of a special election.

But as of October 2, the provincial office of the LNB has not received feedback from the LNB National Executive Committee regarding the concern. /bmjo