Mariveles, Bataan—Members of the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) here said the administrative complaint they lodged at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) against Mayor Jocelyn Castaneda is far from being politically motivated.
In an official statement, the municipal council members said that while they belong to different political parties from Mayor Castaneda, they do not want politics “from the very start to get in their way in serving the people of Mariveles.”
“We took our oath to serve the people of Mariveles, not the political party,” they said.
Castaneda ran under the Aksyon Demokratiko party, defeating administration bet Ace Jello Concepcion of PDP-Laban — the party of Vice Mayor Lito Rubia and the councilors who filed the complaint. The mayor has yet to react to the complaint filed last week.
The councilors said they took legal recourse to protect the integrity of the SB as well the municipality from illegal wrongdoings.
“Naniniwala po kami sa legal na proseso dahil kami po sa Sangguniang Bayan ay tinitiyak na lahat na ang aming hakbang ay naaayon sa local government code. Kaya idinulog po namin ang aming reklamo sa Sangguniang Panlalawigan dahil ito po ang naaayon sa legal na proseso,” they said.
“Dahil may respeto po kami kay mayor at ayaw po namin na pagkaguluhan pa kami sa social media, idinulog po namin ito sa SP na siyang may saklaw ng usaping ito”, they added.
SB members said Castaneda should answer the allegations against her in the proper venue and in accordance with the law.
A week ago, Vice Mayor Rubia led SB members Tito Catipon, Angel Sunga, Susan Murillo, Ronald Arcenal, Joey Carandang, Harry Golocan, Turing Isip, SK Municipal Federation President Vincent Charles Banzon, and IP Representative Manuel Pacayay in personally filing the administrative charges with the provincial board at the capitol compound in Balanga City.
They charged Castaneda with dishonesty, oppression, misconduct in office, gross negligence, and abuse of authority.
Based on the complaint, the mayor allegedly mishandled relief goods, some of which put into waste, attacked political rivals using public communication facilities, failed to give an accounting of the disbursement of the donations, and accused SB members of “selling out” their constituents in favor of a private company, among others.
