Cebu mayor’s pet peeve arrested anew

CEBU CITY — The lone oppositionist to Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano among the 27 barangay captains in the city, was arrested for the third time yesterday for the offense of paying only P5 for a community tax certificate.

The arrest yesterday of Damaso Tumulak, the barangay captain of Labogon in Mandaue City, was his third since being sued by a woman he claims is an ardent Ouano supporter.

It came about after a bonding company failed to transmit to the court his bail documents.

Tumulak was arrested in June last year and again last Jan. 11 in connection with a charge for falsification of public documents filed against him by Eglyrina Caballero, the president of an urban poor organization in the barangay, who accused him of paying only P5 for a community tax certificate in Lapu-Lapu City.

Tumulak had fully paid his community tax in Mandaue City but was forced to take out another certificate in Lapu-Lapu City so he could sign as a witness for a friend who wanted to pick up the death benefits of his brother.

The case filed by Caballero was based on that second community tax payment he made in Lapu-Lapu City.

Tumulak blamed his "harassment" on the camp of Ouano, saying Caballero, "a mere squatter," does not have the means to sustain litigation against him. — Freeman News Service