The case of controversial Councilor Vicente “Oti” Bacordo, who is now in jail for various crimes, has been referred by the Sangguniang Bayan of Don Salvador Benedicto to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Negros Occidental, for appropriate action.

This was after the DSB Sangguniang Bayan, in its Feb. 20 regular session, approved a resolution imposing P1,000 as fine on Bacordo, for incurring unjustified absences for four consecutive sessions.

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

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

While he and his four detained companions were granted bail of P80,000 each, 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, were also 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The murder and kidnapping charges against Bacordo, that had been archived for several years, were revived, after the police found that his amnesty application had not been acted upon by the government.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.

Three members of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade, who had figured in a shootout with two companions of Bacordo in November last year, are also detained at the San Carlos BJMP for failure to post bail, for similar charges filed against them.

The apprehension of Bacordo and 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

back to top