Barangay captains rally behind Peewee

A total of 130 barangay captains signed yesterday a petition expressing their support for embattled Pasay City Mayor Wenceslao "Peewee" Trinidad, who has been suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly entering into an anomalous garbage collection and disposal contract.

The petition addressed to the secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) noted that Trinidad is "a good and effective mayor of the city" and asked that authorities first carefully study the case lodged against him before a suspension order is served.

The Ombudsman issued last Aug. 25 a six-month preventive suspension order against Trinidad, Vice Mayor Antonio Calixto and 10 members of the city council over the garbage disposal contracts worth P464.6 million in 2004 and 2005 .

Corazon Pesayco, barangay captain of Barangay III-Zone 12 (Seleridad-Tramo), said that with the petition, they are urging authorities to take a second look at the complaint lodged against Trinidad and check if there are discrepancies.

"Mayor Peewee will always be our mayor. We know that he is a good man and that we don’t believe the accusations being hurled against him. His political detractors are behind this," Pesayco stressed.

This developed as hundreds of city residents remain camped out for the fourth straight day at the City Hall grounds to show their full support for the continued stay of Trinidad as local chief executive.

His supporters blocked the main entrance of City Hall located on F.B. Harrison street. They also barricaded the main road leading to the compound with junk cars.

Trinidad, in a press conference, vowed to exhaust all legal options to remain at his post, saying he did nothing wrong in entering into the garbage collection contracts.

The mayor said he only had the best interest of his constituents in mind. "I know the people of Pasay are behind me, and, as far as I am concerned, they are the ultimate judge as to what kind of public servant I am."

Trinidad, however, said he would step down once the legal order is served against him.

The order according to the Ombudsman, must be implemented by DILG Secretary Ronaldo Puno.

The DILG chief ordered Undersecretary for Local Government Wencelito Andanar yesterday to take appropriate action on the case of Trinidad.

Puno issued the directive following his receipt of the suspension order at 2:45 p.m. yesterday, which came more than an hour after lawyers of the Pasay mayor informed the DILG, through a Notice of Appeal, of their move to question the Ombudsman’s decision before the Court of Appeals.

"We received the Notice of Appeal from the lawyers of Mayor Trinidad at around 1:10 p.m. today," Puno said. "I have forwarded the document, together with the Ombudsman’s suspension order to our legal department for further study and instructed our Undersecretary for Local Government to take the appropriate action on this case immediately."

Trinidad’s lawyers pointed out that the preventive suspension, if imposed on the Pasay mayor, "would cause irreparable injury and suppress the voice of the electorate to have their duly chosen and elected officials serve them until the end of their respective terms."

"The residents of Pasay City would be deprived of the services of their duly elected mayor, vice mayor and councilors. Allowing such an absurd scenario would unduly hamper and disrupt the normal operations of the Pasay City local government and would leave the city in a state of chaos and uncertainty," the motion stated.

Trinidad maintained that there is nothing illegal when the city government allowed the payment of the garbage contract being questioned. He reiterated that it was the Commission on Audit which opined that based on the principle of quantum merit, there was no legal obstacle to paying the contractors for services rendered.

The Pasay officials are facing charges of graft and grave misconduct after a complaint was filed by former Pasay barangay chairman Juanito Delmendo.

The complainant claimed the contracts for garbage collection and disposal awarded to several services companies were extended several times without the benefit of a public bidding. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Mike Frialde