Suspension of SPEED head, his aide sought

Cebu City Hall Ombudsman Orlando Secretario has recommended to Mayor Tomas Osmeña the suspension of the head of the Squatters Prevention Encroachment Elimination Division for one month and his property custodian for six months over the unauthorized selling of used medical equipment.

Secretario said he had enough evidence to prove that retired police major Vicente Mercado is guilty of command responsibility for not making action despite being informed that SPEED property custodian Enriquita Crispe sold at least 1,950 kilos of used medical equipment that were stored at their stockroom.

City urban poor consultant Gerry Marquez said Mercado was hesitant to conduct investigation into the anomaly.

"Giingnan nuon ko niya nga sa gobyerno diay na. Kon sa gobyerno man gani na, basin og waste na, " Marquez quoted Mercado as saying.

SPEED employee Jacinto Cambunga said Crispe instructed him to come to their office in the morning of February 10, even if it was a Saturday, to help load the used materials from their stockroom to a vehicle.

The used medical equipment, which were later recovered from the JP Pardillo Junk Shop, consisted of a brain scanner, ECG machine, ultra sound machine, an over bed table, dental X-ray machine, wheel chairs, thread mill machine, among others.

Junk shop owner Julito Pardillo had executed an affidavit last February 15 that he paid P13,650 for the 1,950 kilos of junk materials.

In his first affidavit, Pardillo said he gave the payment to two men who sold to him the junk materials. However, Marquez said Mercado informed him that Crispe had already admitted that she received the payment.

Cambunga claimed that Crispe gave him P1,000 upon her return after she accompanied those who delivered the used medical equipment to the junk shop.

Marquez believed that aside from Crispe, some SPEED personnel are also involved in the anomaly because the pages in the logbook that contained the records on the hauling of the used materials were torn.

At first, Crispe reportedly claimed that the used medical equipment would be transferred to the city’s impounding area.

But the anomaly was discovered after the locker of another SPEED employee, Samuel Lucernas, was among those hauled to the junk shop. — Rene U. Borromeo/LPM