Indahag family files abuse plaint vs. Unabia

By CONG B. CORRALES
Associate Editor

A FAMILY who cried foul over the alleged landgrabbing in Barangay Indahag has filed a complaint against Rep. Peter Unabia of Misamis Oriental’s 1st District and several others before the Office of the Ombudsman.

The complaint for grave misconduct, abuse of authority, oppression, conduct unbecoming of a public officer, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, grave coercion, among others, was filed by lawyer Evangeline Carrasco on behalf of her clients Betty Lou Layagon-Edrozo, Dennis Layagon and Edward Layagon.

Slapped with the complaint were Rep. Unabia, former barangay chair and incumbent village councilor Carmelito Damo,  councilor Prescillano Reyes, barangay chairperson Melitona Patriana, forester Diosdado Pecasales, Gingoog councilor Robert de Lara, police officer Lyndon Capistrano, and many John Does.

Carrasco, in an e-mail sent to this paper yesterday, said she already filed the complaint on behalf of the Layagons over a patenting dispute of a 30-hectare property in Sto. Niño, Indahag, this city.

The Layagons have cried foul over the alleged illegal fencing of the property despite a supposed decision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources on a protest case in their favor.

The complainants alleged that an armed group fenced the disputed property with a barbwire without a court order, and a confrontation nearly resulted in violence in May.

On May 29, they alleged that close to 100 armed men, including guards from a security agency called Blackwater, returned to complete the fencing, “again, without any court order.”