Cebu City Councilor Jose Daluz III said he is ready to answer the complaint against him for allegedly lawyering against the Cebu City Government within a year from his resignation.
He said he was not part of the legal counsel of Labangon Barangay Councilman Rodolfo Tabasa, who was arrested through “citizen’s arrest” last June for not returning his city-issued vehicle despite orders by then acting mayor Margarita “Margot” Osmeña.
“I was not a lawyer of Tabasa. Nowhere in court records have I appeared as lawyer. My only appearance was at the prosecutor. But I was not acting as a lawyer, I was acting as a custodian of Tabasa as appointed by court,” said Daluz, who is a lawyer by profession.
He said he received an order from the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas asking him to file a counter-affidavit on a criminal complaint filed by Osmeña regarding the issue last June.
In her complaint, Osmeña alleged that Daluz violated the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees as well as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
She cited Section 7 of the code of conduct which states that public officials and employees are not allowed to engage in the private practice of their profession within one year from their resignation from office.
Daluz resigned from his post a legal officer IV of the city legal office last October when he ran for city councilor.
“As a former legal officer of the city attorney’s office, his representation of a respondent in a criminal and administrative case filed by herein complainant through its acting mayor, within a year from his resignation is a clear violation of the above provision, and should not go unpunished,” Osmeña said in her complaint.
The same act also violated Section 3 of the anti-corrupt practices act, she added.
In their order dated August 17, the Ombudsman found enough basis to proceed with the case filed by Osmeña. This was why they ordered Daluz to file his official response.