No action in Baclaran

Last year, more than 2 million devotees of our Mother of Perpetual Help signed a manifesto asking for the clearing of the Redemptorist Road and nearby streets surrounding the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Baclaran, Parañaque City of illegal vendors and criminals. Copies of the manifesto were given to several government agencies, including the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), which came out with a statement that by December the roads will be opened to motorists and the public.

More than two years ago, on Dec. 11, 2008, I filed a formal complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman demanding accountability of public officials who had allowed the illegal occupation of the streets and failed to keep the streets safe from criminals, thereby denying the public of the rightful use of the streets.

I filed the complaint on Dec. 11, 2008. The basis of the complaint is the constitutional mandate of the anti-graft body to exercise its power to “[d]irect, upon complaint or at its own instance, any public official or employee of the Government, or any subdivision, agency or instrumentality thereof as well as any government-owned or controlled corporation with original charter, to perform and expedite any act or duty required by law, or to stop, prevent and correct any abuse or impropriety in the performance of duties.” (Sec. 17 (2), Constitution)

Unfortunately, to date nothing has been heard about and no action has been done on my complaint and the manifesto, and the public continues to suffer from illegal vendors and those engaged in lawlessness.

—LIGORIO G.M. NAVAL,

114-B Alima, Bacoor, Cavite