The vice mayor of Malolos City filed an administrative case or “Gross Neglect of Duty” against his seven city councilors before the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the alleged absenteeism of the respondents during the past regular sessions of the Sangguniang Panglungsod (SP).
Vice Mayor Noel Pineda filed the administrative case against the councilors also known as the “7-Up” City Councilors, namely, Nino Carlo Bautista, Francisco Castro, Kirk Louis Nicolas, Enrico Capule, Edgardo Domingo, Miguel Carlos Soto and Dionisio Mendoza.
According to Pineda, the filing of the administrative case stemmed from the alleged continuous absence of the said councilors during meetings or regular sessions at the Sangguniang Panglungsod ng Malolos.
The vice mayor and presiding officer of the SP regretted the filing of the administrative case but according to him, the welfare and needs of the people of Malolos will be affected if the problem will not be resolved within the legislative office.
During a press briefing with local media, Pineda said that from the 81st to the 84th regular sessions, there was no quorum or official meeting due to the absence of the said seven city councilors.
He said due to the lack of quorum, some important functions of the SP were suspended such as those certified urgent by the people, budget pending in the barangays, while funds and projects of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) were also not approved.
“Mahalaga po na magkaroon ng aksyon ang inyong lingkod sa mga bagay na ito, nakakalungkot man gawin ay hinihingi ng pagkakataon at ng aking tungkulin na maibalik ang kaayusan para sa pagpupulong at karaniwang pagdaraos ng regular session ng SP,” said Pineda.
He said that he was forced to sue the seven councilors to stop them from being absent without proper notice and without proper explanation and it is important for them to return to their duties to fulfill and meet the needs of the people.
According to Pineda, he will refer the matter to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to use the power of the police under the local government code to bring them back and restore order to the SP sessions.
Pineda stressed that he only protected the integrity of the SP, which is a good institution, of which the respondents are part of and thus its reputation should not be tainted or damaged.
According to the respondents based on their Facebook post, the regular sessions held in recent weeks were fake due to the alleged new Internal Rules of Procedures adopted under City Resolution No.7-2021.