Ombudsman drops case against Medellin mayor

THE Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas has dismissed the criminal complaint filed against Medellin Mayor Ricardo Ramirez who was accused of harassing and threatening to kill fisherfolk in the town’s island barangay.

Graft investigation and prosecution officer Vivien Leigh Santiago-Lumangtad said there is no sufficient basis to indict Ramirez as well as policemen and Bantay Dagat members cited in the complaint.

The issue stemmed from the complaint filed by members of the Gibitngil Farmers and Fisherfolks Association (GIFFA) in Medellin.

The complainants, who opposed the construction of a footbridge that would connect the Funtastic Medellin Island Watch to the shoreline, claimed that Bantay Dagat personnel rammed and damaged the fishing boat owned by one of the GIFFA members.

They also accused Ramirez of firing a shot that narrowly missed one of the complainants in 2011. Members of GIFFA were also allegedly deprived of the basic services from the barangay upon instruction from Ramirez.

In his counter-affidavit, Ramirez denied the accusations which he said are “false and a complete distortion of truth.”

Ramirez said the GIFFA members engaged in illegal fishing in the municipal waters of Medellin.

The anti-graft investigator found the allegations against Ramirez improbable.

Unbelievable

“It is rather unbelievable and unrealistic that a municipal mayor, in the presence of several policemen, would order a police officer to shoot women one by one. To do so would be against normal human behavior,” Lumangtad said.