Apura faces admin raps

CEBU, Philippines - Carcar City Mayor Nicepuro Apura is facing an administrative complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas for ‘forcibly’ closing down a footwear stall in Barangay Valladolid.

Businesswoman Hene Fernandez, 45, of Barangay Lamakan in the same city, filed Wednesday the complaint for abuse of authority, a month after her stall was closed.

Fernandez was occupying a commercial space at Carcar United Footwear Manufacturers Association, Inc- One Town, One Product (CUFMAI-Otop) Center in Barangay Valladolid, which was built on a lot owned by Apura.

In her complaint-affidavit, Fernandez said they had been religiously paying the weekly rental for more than 10 years. But in the afternoon of January 20, Apura, accompanied by four men, padlocked her stall. Fernandez cried foul over the “unfair” treatment shown by the mayor.

“Out of the many stalls operating in said place under the same category, (ours) was the only stall that Mayor Apura and his men forcibly padlocked which caused damage through loss of income aside from mental anguish and moral sufferings,” she said.

The incident was recorded at the Carcar City Police. The report, however, did not identify the four men who were with Apura. The FREEMAN contacted Apura but the calls and texts were left unanswered.

The mayor, however, said earlier that he had informed Fernandez that he would be using the lot anytime soon, but the latter allegedly did not heed to the notices.

In September last year, the Carcar City government was also charged over the closure of a piggery in Barangay Liburon. The complaint was filed by the owner of the piggery business after Apura also padlocked the piggery without due process and on the ground that the business posed a serious health hazard.

The complainant Patrick Niño Vincent Lim Chio maintained that there was no record that would prove that residents in Barangay Liburon got sick or were hospitalized because of the piggery operations. The case is still pending before the court. (FREEMAN)