Lapu-Lapu brgy chief, four others cleared

CEBU, Philippines - For lack of probable cause, the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas dismissed the criminal complaints against the barangay captain of Basak, Lapu – Lapu City and four other people accused of destroying the house of a resident of the barangay.

Graft investigator Amy Rose Soler-Rellin said complainants Gilda and Edilberta Ombing failed to refute the evidence presented by barangay captain Isabelito Darnayla, United Basak Urban Poor Federation President Anita Saavedra and barangay tanods Josefredie Agbay, Ignacio Berdon and one unidentified other.“In the absence of contradictory evidence against respondents’ unrelenting avowal that they (Saavedra, Agbay and Berdon) were there merely to witness as requested by Loseo, the presumption of innocence as well as regularity of official duties cannot be overthrown,” Rellin’s resolution reads.

In their complaint, Gilda and Edilberta said the respondents destroyed their house and, therefore, violated the anti-graft and corrupt practices act and malicious mischief.

Edilberta said that while she was in Bohol on April 11, 2011, she received a call about 12 midday from daughter informing her that their newly-constructed house in Barangay Basak was “totally destroyed” by their respondents. The incident reportedly happened three hours earlier around 9 a.m. and that it was allegedly Darnayla who ordered the destruction.

“The destruction was ordered by Darnayla and carried out by several barangay tanods under the management and command of Saavedra,” the complaint reads.

Edilberta said her daughter’s call prompted her to return to Cebu immediately.

Gilda, an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW), corroborated her mother’s claim, saying it was her who sent the money to construct the house and that she was in the Philippines at the time the respondents destroyed it. She reportedly witnessed the act and even shouted at the tanods to stop demolishing. She was reportedly told that it was Darnayla who ordered the demolition.

The complainants had asked the Ombudsman to order the respondents to pay actual damages amounting to P60,000; moral damages amounting to P150,000; and exemplary damages amounting to P50,000. She also demanded that they be paid for the money they spent on their lawyer amounting to P50,000 and another P2,500 per appearance of their lawyer during the hearings of the case.

The respondents belied the allegations.

They said that on the day of the incident, a certain Mrs. Zenaida Loseo went to the barangay hall and sought their assistance about a house erected on her property. Saavedra, Agbay and Berdon went with Loseo to her property and that it was Loseo and her son were the ones who instructed three men to destroy the complainants’ house and that they were only there as witnesses.

In her nine-page resolution, Rellin said the evidence presented by the respondents had more weight compared to those presented by the complainants.

“We are inclined to believe that of respondents. As can be readily gleaned from the Barangay Blotter dated 11 April 2011, Loseo reported to the barangay the illegal structure constructed by complainants on her property. She further requested that barangay tanods accompany her to the site, to witness that such structure in fact existed,” the resolution reads.

She said the respondents merely acted on Loseo’s request being public officers./JMO (FREEMAN)