A businesswoman accused Carcar City Mayor Nicepuro Apura of illegally closing their footwear stall on Jan. 20 in Barangay Valladolid. Hene Fernandez will file administrative complaint against the mayor today before the Visayas Ombudsman.
In her sworn affidavit, she said, “Our stall, out of the many stalls operating in the said place under the same category, was the only stall Mayor Nicepuro Apura and his men forcibly padlocked.”
She also said that Apura brought four men with him who took their stocks and placed these in a sack before they closed the stall.
As a tenant and member of the Carcar United Footwear Manufacturers Association Inc., Fernandez told CDN that the sudden closure of her stall, J’Ferson Shoes, was unfair and has affected them financially.
She added that for more than 10 years, she and her husband have been religiously paying their weekly rent. In a separate interview, Apura explained that he owns the lot where the stalls are located and he will be using it soon.
He said he already gave notices to Fernandez since November last year but they refused to vacate their stall.
Since Fernandez occupies the last stall, he wanted it removed first.
The padlocking incident was recorded in Carcar City police blotter. Fernandez also uploaded a 1:13-minute video in her social media account where a man wearing a green shirt and denim shorts who looked like Apura was seen supervising the padlocking of Fernandez’s stall.
But the video was not able to record the taking of the stocks.