A copy of a picture showing Cebu City Mayor-elect Edgardo Labella giving his inaugural speech with the Mayor’s seal attached to the podium on June 30, 2019. CDN Digital photo | Delta Letigio
Cebu City, Philippines—The Camp of former Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said the Mayor’s Seal was not actually lost but was instead used by Mayor-elect Edgardo Labella during his inauguration last June 30, 2019.
Read more: Labella: Mayor’s office seal also missing
Lawyer Amando Virgil Ligutan, the legal counsel of Osmeña, said the complainant, Engineer Mejilito Cajes, was the one who took the seal out of the Mayor’s Office at around 9:28 a.m. on June 25, 2019 to be taken to the Legislative Hall.
This information was based on a city hall logbook that Ligutan showed members of the media in a press conference on Tuesday, July 9 in Cebu City.
The logbook showing that the complainant took the Mayor’s seal out of the Mayor’s office on June 25, 2019. CDN Digital photo | Delta Letigio
Read more: Osmeña strips off his office of furnishings as he ends his term
Ligutan said Cajes “clearly” lied in his affidavit to the Office of the Ombudsman.
“If the complainant lied in his statements, how can the Ombudsman believe him?,” said Ligutan.
Watch part of the press conference here:
Ligutan said they are calling on Cajes to retract his allegations against Osmeña or else face criminal and administrative charges.
They are giving him one day to retract his allegations.
Ligutan urged Cajes to tell the truth and retract his statements in order to avoid the consequences. /bmjo