SUSPENDED Toledo Mayor John Henry Osmeña is going on a 20-day vacation leave outside the country.
This developed after Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III approved Osmeña’s request to leave the country despite serving a suspension from the Ombudsman–Visayas.
Davide said in an interview on Monday that he found no reason to bar Osmeña from spending his vacation outside the country despite orders from the Office of the Ombudsman on suspending the latter for one year as mayor of Toledo City, a city approximately 70 km southwest of Cebu City.
Davide approved the leave request submitted on September 5, which states that Osmeña would travel to the Middle East, Europe and the United States of America for 20 days starting on September 16.
He is expected to return to the country on October 15.
“Unless there is a hold-departure order from the court or the Ombudsman, he has the right to travel abroad granted to him by the Constitution. There was no hold-departure order on his case,” said Davide.
On August 29, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales ordered the suspension of Osmeña for one year after their office found probable cause to indict him for grave abuse of authority.
Morales said in a statement on the Ombudsman’s website that the mayor allegedly refused to disclose the quarterly real property tax shares amounting to P17 million of Barangay Daanlungsod for the fiscal years of 2014 and 2015.
Case files issue
Meanwhile, Davide has also called on President Rodrigo Duterte to give the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) access to cases and records of police operations that the rights body is investigating.
Davide made the call amid Duterte’s earlier statements of his plan to require CHR to secure the President’s permission to acquire the case files on police operations.
“That’s too bureaucratic. CHR is an independent investigating body, they should have access to these cases and records,” he said.
The governor also said this plan will only result in a tedious process of investigating human rights violations.