Bacolod village chiefs in trouble

BY MAE SINGUAY

BACOLOD City – The barangay captain of Tangub has been accused of threatening a villager. His counterpart in Barangay 37, on the other hand, is under fire for allegedly turning the barangay hall into a boarding house.

If complainant Susima Tapuiso, 53, of Purok Villa Esperanza, Barangay Tangub were to be believed, Noli Villarosa maligned her on Sept. 11.

She also alleged at Police Station 8 that Villarosa had a gun when he warned her to stop constructing a house on the lot of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Tapuiso insisted, however, that the lot had been awarded to her by the department.

In a radio interview, Villarosa admitted he had a gun but denied threatening Tapuiso with it.

He had been receiving threatening text messages, Villarosa claimed, thus he brought with him a gun to protect himself.

He, however, did not say from who or where the threats came.

Villarosa also said he checked the DENR property in Purok Villa Esperanza because he heard reports that someone was erecting structures there without his knowledge.

The Bacolod City Police Office is investigating Tapuiso’s complaint.

Senior Supt. Pedrito Escarilla, officer-in-charge of the police office, reminded gun owners to refrain from displaying their firearms in public or bringing these outside their homes without securing first a permit to carry firearm outside of residence (PTCFOR).

Meanwhile, village chief Hernani Jalando-on of Barangay 37 got the ire of a constituent for allegedly transforming their barangay hall into his own private abode.

Complainant Cyril Reyes reported to Police Station 1 that the second floor of the barangay hall was where Jalando-on was already living.

Jalando-on could not be reached for comment as of press time.

Reyes told the police there was no political motive in her complaint; she was just a “concerned citizen.”/PN