A barangay chairman in Malolos City is facing charges of grave misconduct in office, gross neglect of duty, and abuse of authority for violating Republic Act 7160 and RA 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees), which were recently filed by a prominent businesspersons.
Chairman Lolita Gatchalian of Barangay Balite, City of Malolos was charged with an administrative case filed by Lilia Capule and her son Joseph Dominic, both residents of St. Mary’s St., Balite, City of Malolos at the Sangguniang Panglungsod of the City Government of Malolos on March 10, 2025.
The complaints against Chairman Gatchalian stemmed after she allegedly failed to perform the duties that she was supposed to perform and instead had her barangay secretary perform on her behalf.
Based on the mother and son’s 12-page complaint affidavit, Gatchalian was also allegedly biased because she ignored their complaints to the barangay in June and July 2024 and they said she failed to issue summons and a certificate to file action (CFA).
As proof of the allegations, the complainants have documents proving that Chairman Gatchalian was not the one who signed the issued documents from the barangay.
Gatchalian also allegedly failed to appear at the summons hearings, where she repeatedly excused herself, according to her barangay secretary, Lourdes Descarial, that the captain was “not feeling well.”
The Capules insisted that the chairman should file a leave of absence if she is feeling unwell and cannot perform her duties.
It was also learned that there are times where the barangay secretary acts as the presiding officer in hearings where her only role is to record the minutes of the meeting.
“Barangay Chairman Lolita Gatchalian should be held liable for gross neglect of duty for her failure to administer and preside over the barangay conciliation proceedings,” the complainants said.
“She (Gatchalian) grossly neglected her duties and abused her authority when she intentionally declined our request for the issuance of a certificate to file action (CFA),” the affidavit stated.
There were times also that if somebody went to the barangay to file complaint, the barangay chairman allegedly appeared during hearings and easy for them to issue a CFA which is unfair according to Capules.
Attempts were made to get Gatchalian’s side, but according to Secretary Descarial, the chairman cannot give a statement on this because they have not yet received a copy of the complaint.
“As of the moment, I still haven’t received any advice from Kap if she already has a copy of the said complaint. How can she give her side/feedback if the complaint hasn’t been read yet?,” according to Descarial’s text message.
