Kagawad Richard Jimenez of Barangay Fairview, Baguio City has explained his side regarding the complaint of their punong barangay against him in line with the performance of duties as a local official.
In a complaint filed on May 28, Fairview PB Justina Andaya claimed Jimenez knowingly pretended to be the punong barangay of Fairview to impel the Baguio City Police Office to release from custody a violator of the enhanced community quarantine who was withheld at the Athletic Bowl.
In a phone interview on June 8, Jimenez has confirmed to the Courier that the incident with the ECQ violator indeed transpired but he did not pretend to be the punong barangay.
Jimenez narrated that on April 23, while the barangay was on lockdown, Rowena Arellano, 55, and a Fairview resident, asked for the assistance of the barangay as she needed to go to the central business district to withdraw money and buy necessities. She was escorted by another kagawad in his vehicle, but she was apprehended at the police checkpoint.
Arellano’s husband, who was worried about the condition of his wife who was taken to the Athletic Bowl, has asked other officials at the barangay hall for help to check on Arellano.
The first two officials whom Arellano’s husband approached were doing other duties that time, and it was Jimenez who went with him.
Jimenez begged to be excused in further discussing the details of the incident under the advice of his lawyer since the case is now awaiting the decisions of the Office of the Prosecutor and City Council of Baguio, where Andaya filed the complaint.
However, Jimenez clarified he was just doing his duty as a barangay official by responding to the call of a constituent asking for help.
“I would be a useless barangay official if I will not be of service to a constituent who was begging for help. I cannot discuss the details, but I would like to make it clear that I did not identify myself as a punong barangay, not even as a kagawad,” he said.
Andaya has accused Jimenez of dishonesty, oppression, misconduct in office, dereliction of duty, and abuse of authority in violation of the Local Government Code; commission of unethical conduct in violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees; and gross misconduct, oppression, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and discrimination in violation of the Administrative Code of 1987 Book 5.
The complaint was accompanied by the accounts of police officers stationed at the Athletic Bowl where quarantine violators are held where they claimed Jimenez misrepresented himself and asked for the release of Arellano. – Hanna C. Lacsamana
