The City Legal Office is investigating the uprooting of plants at the Bacolod City Government Center grounds, City Legal Officer Karol Joseph Chiu said on Monday, June 16.
Some Bacolod Public Order and Safety Office employees were reportedly alarmed when personnel of Portia Familiaran, wife of Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, uprooted some plants on the side and front of the BCGC grounds on June 12.
The Office of the Building Official immediately reported the incident to the police.
Chiu said they are waiting for the investigation report of the Office of the Building Administrator to determine the course of action to be taken.
The plants and improvements once attached to the land is owned by the city government, he said.
Portia Familiaran, in a statement on her Facebook page , said she has been unfairly implicated in connection with the alleged unauthorized uprooting and removal of the ornamental plants.
“All plants, shrubs, flora, ornamental stones, and related landscaping materials situated at the front and perimeter of the Bacolod City Government Center were acquired, transported, and planted solely through my personal initiative,” she said.
“These were procured using my private funds, with no financial support or reimbursement from the city government. I engaged a private gardener at my own expense to facilitate both the planting and subsequent maintenance of the landscaped areas,” she added.
The beautification initiative commenced around January 2023 upon the expressed desire of Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez to improve the aesthetic condition of the BCGC grounds, she said.
On being informed by her husband, she said she volunteered to undertake the landscaping and beautification of the BCGC grounds.
“Over the past three years, I have continued to fund and perform the routinary maintenance of the landscaped areas,” she said.
Familiaran said on June 12 she initiated the scheduled replacement of wilted and overgrown plants.
“My intent was to continue my advocacy despite the fact that my husband’s term would soon end. However, during this activity, my personnel were confronted and ordered to cease operations by certain individuals who questioned their authority,” she added.
To date, there exists no deed of donation, memorandum of agreement, or any other formal instrument transferring ownership of the plants and materials mentioned to the city government, Familiaran said.
“I assert that the plants and materials in question remain my private property, and the removal or relocation thereof does not constitute any illegal act,” she added.
“The timing and public nature of these accusations, coinciding with the final days of my husband’s term as vice mayor, raise questions as to the political motivations underlying these efforts to malign my name,” she added.*