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By James Konstantin Galvez, Reporter
RODRIGUEZ, Rizal: Acting Mayor Jonas Cruz filed
sedition charges against suspended Mayor Pedro Cuerpo and several
members of the municipal council before the Rizal Provincial
Prosecutors Office, saying that the embattled official “planned
and effectively carried out” a public and tumultuous uprising.
In his complaint, Cruz said the action by Cuerpo
and his supporters was “more than being an obvious breach of
peace,” adding that the move was calculated to prevent the
municipal government of Rodriguez from carrying out its official
functions and day-to-day operations.
Cruz cited in his complaint, filed on Thursday,
the manner the suspended mayor and his supporters acted as they
entered and remained holed up inside the town hall.
“Cuerpo planned and effectively carried out a
public and tumultuous uprising where a great number of people led by
the suspended mayor, by force and intimidation, entered the
municipal building,” Cruz said in his complaint.
Cruz said that he was obliged to suspend the
regular operations and services of the municipal government to
protect the employees and his constituents from the “chaotic”
attempt by Cuerpo to take-over the municipal.
“Sedition is a crime committed by a person who
rises publicly and tumultuously in order to attain by force,
intimidation, or by other means outside of the legal methods to
prevent the national, provincial, or municipal government or any
public officer from freely exercising its or his functions, or
prevent the execution of any administrative order,” Cruz
explained.
The standoff prevented the acting mayor from
assuming his post.
Cuerpo who has asserted his right to enter the
government building has remained defiant since he entered his office
Monday morning.
“I will stay in my office and I hope that the
proper authorities have already heard the voice of the people of
Rodriguez. All I am asking is that some clarifications be made and
for justice to be ascertained by the authorities, which means there
is no reason for my presence at the town hall to be made an
issue,” Curepo said.
He said that his suspension order should have
been stayed since he has already written a letter to President
Gloria Arroyo urging her to lift the order.
Besides the sedition charges, Cuerpo and several
members of the Sangguniang Bayan were also charged with resistance
and disobedience to persons in authority.
Three security personnel, two of whom were
injured in the shooting incident that happened during the alleged
forcible entry by the suspended mayor’s supporters, joined in the
filing of the complaint.
Cruz offered the suspended mayor the use the
nearby covered-court at the town plaza prior to the hostile
take-over, saying that the structure can conveniently accommodate
the participants who were invited by the Municipal council.
The tension at the town hall stemmed from
Cuerpo’s questioning of his 60-day suspension and his
replacement by Cruz. Cuerpo was suspended over a tiff on control of
the town’s 14-hectare sanitary landfill.
On Wednesday, the acting Mayor made public what
appeared to be significant anomalous transactions apparently carried
out by suspended Mayor Pedro Cuerpo, citing the 2006 Commission on
Audit (COA) annual report.
In a press conference, Cruz bared the COA report
indicating unaccounted transactions of the municipality valued at
P429 million that the COA questioned.
“The funds involved in these transactions are
the money of the people of Rodriguez. My leadership vows to pursue a
transparent government and one that is accountable to its people,”
said Cruz.
“There is a need to investigate whether or not
these projects were awarded by the suspended mayor without the
benefit of transparent and valid public bidding and who the
contractors were,” said Cruz, stressing that the people need to
know why the said contractors enjoyed such generosity from the
municipal government.
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