Respond to queries, Talisay mayor told

TALISAY City Mayor Socrates Fernandez was reminded by the Ombudsman-Visayas to answer inquiries sent to him after he failed to answer the letters they sent concerning a complaint filed by a couple.

Still the Ombudsman dismissed the complaint filed by the couple Jesse and Amelita Tan against Fernandez in relation to his inaction on their petition to demolish the illegal structures in front of their property in Talisay City.

Graft investigation and prosecution officer Maria Regina Fernandez said a “repetition of the same or similar inaction in the future will be dealt with more severely.”

In 2006, the couple said they told the mayor they will build a fence around their property and asked him to demolish the structures surrounding the area.

But they said the mayor was unable to do anything about it.

In a conference conducted by the Ombudsman, Fernandez agreed to relocate the squatters. But the couple was later advised to bring the issue to the court after the City

The Ombudsman recommended that Fernandez be charged with simple neglect of duty for his failure to respond to the letters.

Fernandez said he agreed to assign police in the area to maintain peace and order.

The mayor said he asked the settlers to move to the side in order not to affect the proposed construction of the couple’s fence and gate. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol