MANGALDAN– Mayor Bona Fe Parayno and the town’s chief of police plus two other persons are in hot water following the filing of a complaint against them in connection with the issuance then revocation of a permit.

The controversy was sparked reportedly by the cancellation of the permit issued to one Ricardo Flores to operate amusement games while retaining the permit issued to another for the operation of drop-ball to operate in Rizal Avenue in barangay Poblacion.

The two others named in the complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman for Luzon are Dr. Jorge “Jing” Torralba and Emma Ibasan of Binmaley town, allegedly the operator of the drop-ball operation.

P/Supt. Jackie Candelario was cited in the complaint by the sanggunian bayan for refusing to comply with its resolution to stop the drop-ball operation of Ibasan.
The complaint is dated April 28, 2014 filed by Joselito Quinto, barangay chairman of Poblacion.

Quinto’s complaint was corroborated by Melinda Morillo, a barangay kagawad who witnessed the filing of the complaint.

Quinto said that in order to raise funds for their barangay fiesta, the barangay council passed a resolution on Jan. 15, 2014 allowing one Ricardo Flores to operate amusement games in the poblacion for a period of one year from January 2014 to January 2015.

Parayno subsequently issued a Mayor’s Permit dated March 14, 2014 following the filing of the application and other requirements by the barangay.

On March 27, however, when Flores started to operate the amusement games, Quinto and Flores were informed through a text message from Torralba, allegedly claiming to represent the mayor, to cease and desist from further proceeding with the project.

“From the context of his text message to me, Dr. Toralba wanted us to stop the amusement games because there was already another that is operated by Mrs. Emma Ibasan except that the latter is in operation of illegal gambling, i.e. drop-ball, and they do not want any competition,” Quinto wrote in his affidavit.

SB RESOLUTION

When the mayor cancelled the permit issued to Flores, Quinto and his council members sought the help of the Sangguniang Bayan by way of a resolution asking the mayor to allow the barangay to proceed with the amusement games “whose operations are covered by a mayor’s permit.”

On April 21, the SB headed by Vice Mayor Manuel Casupang passed Resolution No. 2014-28 requesting the mayor to implement Mayor’s Permit No. 0923 issued on March 14, 2014 to Flores.

Reacting to the resolution, the mayor wrote to the SB on April 26 denying the request asserting that the town council failed to observe “due process in the passage of the resolution.” She maintained that the resolution was passed on first reading only.

At the same time, Parayno deemed the resolution as “temporary in character and “merely expressive of the sentiments and character of the Sangguniang Bayan”.
She also said the mayor’s permit  “is revocable if found to be in violation of existing laws”.

Quinto said Parayno belatedly revoked the permit allegedly in an ante-dated March 28, 2014, but the letter was forwarded to Flores only on April 25, 2014.

In her March 28 letter to Flores, the mayor explained that she had not intended to sign the permit but only inadvertently signed it because it was surreptitiously placed in the middle of voluminous documents she was signing.

Quinto said Parayno’s alibi only showed that the chief executive “does not know what she is doing.”

POLICE BLOTTER

Upon seeing that Ibasan’s drop ball operation was continuing, the barangay council went to the police to put the matter on record in the police blotter and reported the matter to the sanggunian.

Police chief Candelario was instructed by the sanggunian on April 21 to stop the illegal gambling but he allegedly did not comply.–LVM

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