The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Negros Occidental still cannot  act against detained  Don Salvador Benedicto Councilor Vicente “Oti” Bacordo, as no  verified complaint has been  filed against him yet, Board Member Emilio Yulo III said.

The case of  Bacordo, who is now in jail for various charges, has been referred by the Sangguniang Bayan of Don Salvador Benedicto to the provincial council of Negros Occidental, for action.

The DSB Sangguniang Bayan, in its Feb. 20 regular session,  had approved a resolution imposing  a fine of P1,000  on Bacordo, for incurring unjustified absences from  four consecutive sessions.

Records of the DSB Sangguniang Bayan show that Bacordo had incurred 37 absences from July 5 last year to Feb. 20 this year.

Yulo, chairperson of the SP committee on Laws, explained that a verified complaint should be filed first at and what had  been furnished them was merely a resolution  approved by the DSB municipal council.

While the SP has the power to review decisions of  local councils, what had been endorsed to them by the municipal council of DSB was  not  an appeal of the aggrieved party, he said.

Yulo said  the imposition of penalties or fines on Bacordo “is not for us, it is an internal matter for the concerned local government unit.”

Bacordo and his four companions were arrested in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental on  Nov. 9 last year, for illegal possession of firearms.

They  granted bail of P80,000 each, but Bacordo, remains in jail, as warrants of arrest for robbery-in-band with double homicide, two counts of murder and kidnapping with serious illegal detention, had  also  been issued against him by the San Carlos Regional Trial Court, with no bail recommended.

The murder and kidnapping charges against Bacordo, that had been archived for several years, were revived, after the police found that his amnesty application had not been acted upon by the government.

Bacordo was alleged to be the leader of an armed independent group in the late 1980’s before he joined the New People’s Army in northern Negros. He became a barangay captain and later a councilor of Don Salvador Benedicto town, after his arrest in 1994, and joined the mainstream society later.

His  apprehension,   and that of his four companions, and of three other RPA-ABB members in San Carlos City, yielded four .45 caliber pistols, an Ingram machine pistol, a US carbine rifle, 357 magnum and .38 caliber revolvers.*GPB

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