San Roque residents launch recall process vs. Miranda

Some residents of barangay San Roque, Cebu City yesterday launched a signature campaign for the recall of barangay captain Lidiore “Boy” Miranda.

In sitio Palma River Side, protesting residents accused Miranda of excluding them from the list of housing beneficiaries. They also said Miranda curses and calls them names.

“He cursed me. Didn’t he see my grey hair? I am already 78 years old but still he cursed me,” resident Marina Egoy said as she sobbed.

Egoy yesterday signed the petition seeking to recall Miranda.

“Si Kapitan Rabaya, si Kapitan Ruizo wala makaingon namo ana nga gibugal-bugal mi (Former barangay captains Rabaya and Ruizo did not bully us),” Egoy said

She said her family has been living in San Roque since the ‘70s. But when government implemented a  reblocking after fire razed the area last year, Egoy said her family was not included in the list of beneficiaries of the Department of Welfare for Urban Poor (DWUP) housing project.

More than 30 families in sitio Palma River Side have reportedly not been included in the list of  beneficiaries.

“We have been living here since 1972. Why did Captain Miranda not include us in the list of beneficiaries?” Shirley Lambino, president of Palma River Organization, said.

She said Miranda had drawn up the list of the fire victims and submitted this to the DWUP, which merely based the lot assignments on the list.

In sitio Lomboy, some residents claimed their houses were demolished.

Some of the fire victims also claimed they were asked to shell out P3,000 for a building permit and P60,000 for housing materials.

About 20 residents of sitio Lomboy signed the recall petition yesterday.

Miranda, for his part, downplayed the move to recall him. He said he was merely trying to maintain peace and order in the barangay.

He denied the allegations thrown at him. He said he couldn’t have asked for cash to pay for the building permits because the residents would have to go to City Hall to pay the fee themselves.

“I am working for the good of the majority. A lot of people are angry at me because of my no-nonsense implementation of peace and order measures,” he said.

He said he was not responsible for clearing the houses in sitio Lomboy because that was carried out by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“I didn’t have anything to do with the demolition. My role was to help the residents get assistance from the DPWH,” he said.

Under the Local Government Code, a recall petition against any elective official would have to be signed by at least 25 percent of the registered voters in local government units with a voting population of up to 20,000.
Miranda said the barangay has more than 8,700 registered voters.