The Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas has ordered the suspension for three months of Barangay Kagawad Marilyn Delfin and Marites Borro, both from Ilaya, Pontevedra in Capiz after they were found guilty of Simple Misconduct. They were also charged with Grave Coercion together with Ma. Lyle Cortel, a barangay day care worker.
According to complainant, Mildred Vargas, sometime in August 2015, she went to the Pontevedra municipal hall together with her daughter, to claim the P30,000.00 given by the government as Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) for victims of Typhoon Yolanda. Vargas stated that out of the P30,000.00 ESA, P10,000.00 would be given to the barangay officials intended for the benefit of other residents who could not avail of the cash assistance. After receiving the money, they were forcibly prevented by respondents from leaving until they turned over the money. After a brief scuffle, the P9,500.00 was taken by respondents with a measly P500.00 returned to Vargas.
According to Deputy Ombudsman Paul Elmer Clemente, “Borro and Delfin’s act of preventing complainant and her daughter from leaving the premises of the municipal hall against their will was not made under authority of law or in the exercise of a lawful right.”
He added that “even granting that complainant agreed to share a portion of the cash assistance she received from the government, the same is not a sufficient justification for respondents to use force or violence against complainant’s daughter and prevent her from leaving the municipal hall until she would give the amount of P10,000.00.”
Deputy Ombudsman Clemente directed the Department of the Interior and Local Government to implement the suspension order. ###