THE Civil Service Commission (CSC) has denied the motion of former Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña to put city treasurer Diwa Cuevas under preventive suspension.
In a resolution dated November 11, CSC Director IV Karin Litz Zerna said Osmeña’s motion is premature.
She said under the Revised Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service, a preventive suspension order can only be issued if there is already a formal charge or notice of charge/s against a certain employee.
Since there’s is still no issuance of a formal charge by the CSC, Zerna said Osmeña’s request is still premature.
“In the interim, a preliminary investigation is still undertaken to determine whether a prima facie case exists to warrant the issuance of a formal charge,” the resolution read.
In the case he filed, Osmeña wanted Cuevas to be placed under preventive suspension to prevent her from making undue influence or pressure to the witnesses that might be presented and to also avoid the possibility of tampering with documentary evidence in her office.
Cuevas welcomed the decision, although she remains worried of the case.
She said she received a copy of the resolution just last Friday.
“I’m happy that the motion was denied, but there’s still a preliminary investigation,” Cuevas told reporters yesterday.
Osmeña earlier filed several cases against Cuevas before the CSC for alleged failure to perform her duties with regard to the adverse opinions that the city has been receiving from the Commission on Audit in its financial statements.
Cuevas said though that she personally remains optimistic that the cases against her will eventually be dismissed as well.
She said she consulted with people from some auditing firms who told her that COA’s adverse opinions can just be corrected.
She said that’s what they’re doing right now.
“It’s not about project implementation but it’s –based on the books. Our PPE (project property and equipment) is really bloated, but we’ve been reconciling our balances,” she said.