Against 7 who padlocked school: Lapu-Lapu City government to file raps

CEBU, Philippines — Seven individuals caught on closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras padlocking the gates of Abuno Elementary School will face criminal charges of grave coercion and illegal detention.

This after the city government of Lapu-Lapu and Department of Education (DepEd) Lapu-Lapu City Division assessed yesterday the consequences of actions taken by the heirs of Marciano Alegres, who have contested their rights over the property where the school is standing.

"There can be two cases nga amoang ma file which is illegal detention whether slight or serious, wa pa natun-an but for sure naa gyuy illegal detention kay naa may lady guard nga na trap sa sod, and then we’ll also file grave coercion,” said Lapu-Lapu City Legal Counsel James Allan Sayson in a press conference yesterday.

The footage showed the individuals arriving at the school premises around 9:37 in the morning last Friday, locking the three gates of the school located at Barangay Pajac, Lapu-Lapu City.

A lady guard, who was on duty inside the school, was locked in for eight hours and was only able to go out when barangay officials destroyed the lock on the side gate.

To recall, the heirs of Alegres are claiming that the one-hectare lot where the school is constructed is their private property, which was why they padlocked it last November 1, 2024, after their communication with the Lapu-Lapu City government on the matter have allegedly been ignored.

Sayson narrated that last September, the claimants already threatened to lock the school gates, prompting City officials to retrieve all relevant documentation to assess the situation.

Sayson said he advised the Alegres that month to file a formal complaint before the court instead of locking the public school.

“Mga two weeks before November 1, naa natoy threat nga ila tong e-padlock. Unya naka storya mana nako si Noel Cosep over the phone. Ako siyang giingnan nga if you have a legal claim, you file it in the appropriate court kay motubag raman sad mi,” Sayson explained.

He stressed that if the claimants had legal questions regarding the Deed of Donation and Document of Sale, the court is the appropriate body to rule on any ownership dispute.

The Lapu-Lapu City government has in its possession a deed of donation, which was notarized in 1966, for the property.

Also, the City Council passed a resolution and tax declaration signed by then mayor Mariano Dimataga, declaring that the lot was donated to the government.

Sayson said this is why the sudden news on All Saints' Day that the school gates had been padlocked came as a shock to them.

DepEd Lapu-Lapu City Division Legal Officer, Atty. Marricar Endico-Ruñez, disclosed to the media that Abuno Elementary School was established as early as 1960.

In June of that same year, Ruñez said the DepEd Lapu-Lapu Division office possessed a copy of the Document of Sale from Cornella Alegres to Fructoso Fuentes, who was the buyer of Alegres' lot.

According to Ruñez, Fuentes was the president of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) during that school year. However, the legal officer is unsure whether he held this position at the elementary or high school level.

“Kani nga document 1960s mu coincide gyud siya sa establishment sa school,” said Ruñez referring to the Document of Sale.

Additionally, the legal officer said that Fuentes, as the buyer of the land, executed a deed of donation in August 1966 to officially transfer the land to the City Government of Lapu-Lapu during the administration of then Mayor Dimataga.

“Tungod murag mao man ni ang practice nga iturn-over nila sa city kay tungod ang city man maoy naay resources in terms of financial nga maka support gyud sa school,” said Ruñez.

She stated that with the Document of Sale and Deed of Donation in the government’s possession, the DepEd Lapu-Lapu City Division recognizes that Lapu-Lapu City owns the lot where Abuno Elementary and High School are located.

“Mao pod na ang basis sa City Assessor’s Office sa pag issue aning tax declaration nga ang gi declare nga owner mao pod ang city government of Lapu-Lapu,” said Ruñez.

In terms of the documents they own, Ruñez is confident in the city government's claim that the land belongs to them.

Further, Sayson stressed that the city believes that the Alegres family has no right to padlock the school gate.

“Based sa documents nga atong gihuptan, ang syudad man sa Lapu-Lapu maoy tag-iya sa yuta.  Unya ang DepEd Lapu-Lapu Division maoy tag-iya sa building,” said the city legal counsel.

Ruñez added that most of the buildings were funded by the Special Education Fund, which is sourced from the city’s budget.

“Both gyud gihapon City and DepEd ang tag-iya sa Buildings,” Ruñez emphasized.

Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan noted that the city cannot simply pay the Alegres without a court ruling, as doing so could lead to questions from the Office of the Ombudsman and the Commission on Audit (COA).

“Kay kung ato silang bayran without any court order, kami maoy ma Ombudsman tungod kay naa may dokumento to show that this property is owned by the city of Lapu-Lapu,” said Chan.

Chan further said that if ever the Alegres’ claimants will again padlock the gates of the school and they will be caught in the act, the authorities will be forced to arrest them.

“Di ko gusto nga maabot ta ani nga punto nga mag kinihaay. Ako gani nihagad nila e-kiha mi para mabayran mo kung unsa man juy hukom sa korte,” Chan pointed out.

Classes Resumed

Yesterday, the Abuno Elementary School welcomed back the students from the long weekend as the main gate was unlocked by unidentified individuals.

They were not able to identify the one who opened the gate since there was a power outage when the transformer was hit due to heavy rains.

“Na igo among transformer dri sa barangay ni buto mao tong nag power outage dri sa school…Mao nang wala mi naka balo nga kinsa nag open,” said Godinez.

Despite the incident, Godinez shared her relief that the classes were not disrupted.

“Happy jud. At least dili jud makit-an sa atong mga learners nga na padlock ang gate. Hapsay sa ilang pag abot ganina. Naka sulod ra sila nga walay samok,” she said.

The Freeman tried to reach out to the members from the Alegres family to ask if they were the ones who opened the gate, but did not get any response as of presstime. — (FREEMAN)