THE Liga ng mga Barangay regional board in Northern Mindanao has pushed for the removal of Councilor Marlo Tabac as vice president of the Cagayan de Oro City chapter that supposedly lapsed last June 30 when outgoing president Yam Lam Lim became a full fledged councilor.
In an August 8 decision that is being communicated to the Liga ng mga Barangay national board for review, regional president Cesarve Siacor and his colleagues recommended for Tabac’s removal of his previous post after he was found guilty of violating two provisions of the by-laws of the organization.
The five-page decision stemmed from the complaint of Gusa barangay employees where Tabac is chairman, alleging grave misconduct of public office and misappropriation or misuse of public funds.
“The allegations in the complaint are matters that are extraneous to the affairs of the Liga,” the regional board ruled.
The regional board likewise quashed Tabac’s argument that the complainants had committed forum shopping.
In Philippine legal parlance, forum shopping is the malicious act of filing multiple suits involving the same cause of action for the same parties and issues hoping to get at least one favorable judgment.
It is considered undermining since it results to a congestion of legal processes.
Tabac is currently also facing complaints from the same barangay employees before the Ombudsman and the City Council where he himself is a member.
But the regional board insisted that they are only acting on violations of the Liga ng mga Barangay by-laws and these are not related to any other ongoing legal procedures.
They noted that the complaint lodged before the Ombudsman is for violations of Republic Acts 6713 and 3019; while the one forwarded to the City Council involves its oversight function of barangay officials.
On the contents of the complaint, the regional board found it in order since Tabac never submitted any material countering the allegations and instead zeroed in on the forum shopping technicality.
With this decision, Tabac’s previous vice presidency was deemed vacant.
When Lim assumed last June 30 as full fledged councilor after winning a second district position last election, Tabac automatically became president of the Liga ng mga Barangay in Cagayan de Oro City.
Under law, Liga presidents take a seat in their city or municipal council.
It’s unclear yet how this new development would affect Tabac’s two incumbent posts – councilor and Liga city chapter president.
However, the regional board noted that Tabac could appeal their ruling before the national board.
In early June, 64 barangay chairmen signed a letter for the removal of Tabac as their vice president.
But the national board stated that such removal was baseless.
With that course a failure, the said barangay chairmen went to the regional board instead and endorsed the Gusa barangay employees’ complaint with the same goal – Tabac’s expulsion.
