LABELLA
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña and ten other city officials are facing a complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman over the appointment of some councilors as deputy mayors.
The complaint was filed by former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 regional director lawyer Florencio Villarin who said that filing the complaint was his way of supporting President Duterte’s fight against corruption in government.
In an eight-page complaint, Villarin said the mayor’s act of appointing councilors as deputy mayors violates provisions of the Constitution and the Local Government Code (LGC).
Villarin said that under the LGC, the mayor can only appoint officials and employees of the executive branch and not city councilors who are with the legislative branch.
The 1987 Constitution also states that no elective officials shall be eligible for appointment or designation in any capacity to any public office or position during his or her tenure, Villarin added.
Also named respondents were Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, whom he criticized for not doing anything about the matter; and deputy mayors David Tumulak, Eugenio Gabuya Jr., Joy Augustus Young, Sisinio Andales, Alvin Arcilla, Margarita Osmeña, Mary Ann de los Santos, Jerry Guardo and Hanz Abella, a former councilor.
Villarin asked the anti-graft office to place the city officials under preventive suspension. He said the officials should be held liable for culpable violation of the Constitution, dishonesty, grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
Osmeña should also be held liable for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for “persuading, inducing and influencing” the councilors to accept their appointments and perform executive functions, he added.
Sought for comment, Osmeña said that the councilors’ appointment is just a title and that they are not performing executive functions, technically.
“But they help me in making the decision. The deputy mayor is just a title and a recognition of their responsibility. But they do not sign the voucher,” he told reporters yesterday.
Osmeña said that it is still the assigned department head who signs the vouchers in their offices. However, he said he looks for the initials of the assigned deputy mayor on these vouchers so that he does not have to analyze each and every transaction.
CDN tried to get the comment of Labella, but repeated calls to his cell phone were not answered.
Villarin’s complaint was received by the Office of the Ombudsman–Visayas last September 28.
A copy was also furnished to the Office of the President.