TOMAS TO AGUIRRE: BRING IT ON

Vice President Leni Robredo (right) has chided Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II for using his position to get back at Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña (left). Robredo, together with Osmeña, attended the launching of a project initiated by the Office of the Vice President at the Robinsons Galleria called the Istorya ng Pag-asa. CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña is in a fighting mood.

He is ready to take on Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, who accused him of receiving P7 million in protection money from a drug lord as allies rallied behind him.
The mayor challenged Aguirre to go ahead in filing charges against him as he prepared to file disbarment complaint against the secretary.

“Go ahead. I’m not worried about Aguirre filing a case against me. Just tell him to stop announcing it. He’s entitled to make a fool out of himself. I will answer it,” he stated.

“I’m not going to ask forgiveness from Aguirre. Excuse me. Go ahead, file. And don’t worry, there’s due time for the disbarment case,” he added.

Osmeña denied receiving P7 million from Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz, as alleged by Aguirre’s purported witness, Reynaldo “Jumbo” Diaz, cousin of Central Visayas’ biggest drug lord.

Instead, Osmeña once again pointed to his archrival, former Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, as the one who allegedly accepted drug money from Jaguar.

“As far as Mr. Rama is concerned, I would bring the witness that says Jaguar hates Rama because he already gave Rama P10 million and Rama was asking for P20 million.

What happened was the bata-bata (underling) of Rama, Supt. Romeo Santander (former Cebu City Intelligence Branch chief), raided Jaguar and recovered about a million pesos worth of shabu,” said Osmeña.

Shortly before Jaguar was killed by Cebu City-based policemen in a shootout in Las Piñas last June 2016, the mayor claimed that “one of his urban poor leaders” told him that the drug lord wanted to offer him money in exchange for protection.

“I don’t know how much and I don’t care because I said ‘no.’ It’s not even worth discussing that’s why I don’t know the amount. But I asked why and he said because Jaguar really hated Rama because he was raided by his underling,” Osmeña said.

He added he didn’t know Jumbo who, according to Aguirre, executed an affidavit, claiming that the mayor received P2 million in 2013 and P5 million in 2016 from Jaguar.

“You know, he (Jumbo) is forced to say in favor of them. They’ll kill him if he does not follow. He’s been under their control. But whatever, let them file their case,” he said.

Rama and Santander, along with retired police general Vicente Loot and four other Cebuano police officials, were included in President Rodrigo Duterte’s list of alleged drug protectors.

But Osmeña was never mentioned by the President in the “narco list.”

Rama denied the accusations leveled against him by Osmeña, and threatened to file libel cases against his political rival.

“I did not receive anything. I have answered that already. He should first concentrate and prepare for the DOJ allegations. But for me, I think he admitted that Jaguar offered him money. I presumed he accepted it,” said Rama.

Aguirre told reporters in Manila on Monday that Osmeña may be liable for protecting the drug lords after allegedly receiving grease money from Jaguar.

He added the National Bureau of Investigation was looking into Jumbo’s allegation against the mayor to look for additional evidence.

But allies of Osmeña defended the mayor, a scion of one of the country’s most influential political clans.

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III described the accusations as “nothing but fake news.”

“Ayaw mo og tuo ana. Dakong binuang ba (Don’t believe it. That’s a big joke,” he said.

“I don’t know what Secretary Aguirre’s reasons are but I won’t believe his claims because I’ve known Mayor Osmeña. Let Mr. Aguirre prove them,” said Davide, who was Cebu City councilor under Osmeña’s local party, Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan, before running for governor in 2010.

Vice President Leni Robredo, a partymate of Osmeña in the Liberal Party, chided Aguirre for using his position to get back at Osmeña.

“It’s sad that these developments seem to show a pattern of those who oppose [this administration’s] policies are always tagged as ‘drug protectors,’” she told reporters in Cebu City.

“I hope the DOJ will understand how important their agency is. This is not an agency that should be used for personal vindictiveness, especially where politics is involved,” Robredo said in Filipino.

She reminded Aguirre to uphold the mandate of his office.

“It is important that our trust on the DOJ is whole because this is an agency tasked that justice should prevail in our community,” said Robredo.

“If we lose this trust, who can we rely on?” she added.

Robredo joined Osmeña at Robinsons Galleria on Tuesday for the launching of the Istorya ng Pag-asa, a project initiated by the Office of the Vice President that aims to uplight the lives of ordinary citizens through short films.

But Osmeña was not also about to back down amid the accusations against him.

The disbarment case against Aguirre would push through, he added, for allegedly interfering in the tax evasion complaint which the city government had brought against retail giant SM Group and its banking arm, BDO Unibank, in Cebu.

“This is just diverting it from SM and BDO. They are the ones behind this. To SM and BDO, f*** you. They can sue me for libel but I’m not for sale. I will fight through this,” said Osmeña.

Aguirre caught the ire of Osmeña after he released a two-page resolution dated June 15, 2017, ordering the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office to inhibit and cease from conducting the preliminary investigation of the cases filed against the Sy Group of Companies. The order was only released to the media on March 12.

“It’s clear favoritism … The Regional Trial Court said there’s probable cause, but he signed the documents himself. Dismissed. Why did he do that without asking us? That’s graft and corruption, and to me, that’s enough basis for disbarment,” Osmeña explained.

Aguirre defended his action and insisted that his directive to transfer the preliminary investigation of the complaint from Cebu to the DOJ in Manila was well within his authority. /with Reporter Nestle L. Semilla