Sta. Fe Municipal Mayor Jose Esgana is being accused of threatening two sea marshals who tried to make him pay for passenger tickets for boat trips.
The complaint was filed by lawyer Judiel Pareja last June 11 with the Visayas Ombudsman’s Office on behalf of complainants, Rodolfo Solidor and Carl Martin Absalon, sea marshals serving Island Shipping Corporation (ISC).
The shipping company is the subject of a complaint by Sta. Fe town officials looking into reports that human wastes were being discharged in the sea by vessels that lack sewage tanks.
Mayor Esgana denied acting high-handed with the ship company marshalls and said the complaint could be their way of getting back at him.
Major Esgana was cited in the recent complaint for grave threats under the Revised Penal Code and conduct unbecoming a government employe as well as grave abuse of authority under the anti-graft law and Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
In the complaint, 19-year-old Solidor said the mayor scolded him when he tried to make him pay for a ticket on board LCT Island II from Sta. Fe town to Hagnaya Port last June 4.
“At first, Mayor Esgana refused to pay and scolded me, saying ‘Titicketan mo ako? Mayor ako, di mo ako kilala (You want me to pay? I am the mayor. Don’t you know me)?’” the affidavit reads.
Solidor said Esgana was traveling with his bodyguard and driver.
When the mayor decided to pay, Esgana allegedly pointed his finger at Solidor, and said, “Just make sure you have the power to issue me tickets.”
Each one-way ticket costs P170.
In the affidavit of 20-year-old Absalon, he described a similar incident five days later.
Absalon said that the mayor and his bodyguard, upon boarding the same vessel at 5 a.m., were able to present their tickets.
Before departure, a man boarded the ship and went inside Esgana’s vehicle.
Absalon said he politely knocked on the car’s window to ask for the man’s ticket but when the window was opened, he saw a furious Mayor Esgana.
Esgana’s company told him that they will secure the ticket at the Hagnaya Port instead.
On his way to the first deck of the ship, Absalon said Esgana’s bodyguard came up to him and told him that the mayor wanted to talk to him.
“He then boasted that he was mayor and threatened that he can have me removed as an apprentice,” said Absalon.
When the marshall was unable to show is ID card, the mayor allegedly threatened to have Absalon picked up as a member of the New People’s Army.
Mayor Esgana denied the allegations as fabricated charges.
“Pulos na binuang (Those are all fabricated),” he told CDN over the telephone.
The mayor said he has always paid for his fare on trips from Sta. Fe to Hagnaya and doesn’t even ask for discounts.
According to the mayor, Absalon had been nagging the man who went inside the vehicle right before the vessel was about to depart.
“I told him that even I, as a mayor, pay for a ticket. How much more him?” he said, referring to the other passenger.
Esgana assured the sea marshal that the man would secure a ticket at Hagnaya Port but Absalon still insisted.
The mayor then asked for his ID.
“I didn’t threaten him. In fact, I was the one insulted. He didn’t even recognize me,” he said.
Esgana said he was surprised by the complaint since he has taken the vessel several times since June 4.
The mayor said he would go to the police Monday to complain about Absalon’s attitude and call the attention of crew members of all ships operated by ISC and ask why they do not have IDs.