Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña shows to the media the controversial Dodge Charger police car that was already repainted white in this September 14, 2012 file photo.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA
THE Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas has already dismissed a case which former mayor Michael Rama filed against Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña for the use of the Dodge car which Big Foot reportedly donated to the Cebu City government.
But Barug Team Rama is not giving up in their pursuit to remove him from office to make sure that Vice Mayor Edgar Labella, an ally, assumes as mayor.
This was the sentiments raised by Mayor Osmeña when asked on Wednesday to comment on an investigation by the Office of the President on his alleged use of a donated car.
“They (Barug Team Rama) want Labella to be acting mayor. As simple as that. They will find anything so that Labella would be acting mayor,” Osmeña told reporters during his press conference.
Cebu Daily News tried to reach Labella for comment yesterday, but calls made to his cell phone number were unanswered.
In a separate interview, Rama called Osmeña a liar.
Rama said he is certain that Osmeña used the donated car as if it were his own while the mayor also used city-issued gasoline and a city-paid driver.
“That is his (Osmeña) problem. He forgets. He is a liar. He should look back. You should undergo mental nourishment then your memory will be better off. It (cars) was really for Cebu,” Rama said in a telephone interview with CDN.
In 2012, Rama asked the Ombudsman to investigate Osmeña’s private use of the Dodge car donated by businessman Michael Gleissner, a violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
But the Ombudsman had the case dismissed for lack of probable cause after Rama failed to provide documentation that would support his claims of the vehicle’s donation to City Hall.
Apas Barangay Captain Ramil Ayuman, a Rama ally, pursued the case before the Office of the President.
On July 25, the Office of the President directed the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas to furnish them with a status report of Osmeña anti-graft case.
Mayor Osmeña said his political opponents are pursuing the case with hopes of bringing him out of City Hall and allowing Labella to assume as mayor.
He showed reporters during his press conference a copy of the October 2016 decision signed by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales which ordered the dismissal of the graft case.
Osmeña added that the car in question was never donated to the city government.
“They checked all the vehicles, the papers and everything. It was never transferred in the city’s name,” he said. “Even if it (the vehicle) was given to me, there is nothing illegal about it because I was no longer mayor then,” he added.