Court dismisses mandamus case filed against BO-PK councilors
CEBU CITY– The Regional Trial Court has dismissed the petition for mandamus filed by former Cebu City Councilor Jose Daluz against 10 Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) councilors to compel them to discuss Supplemental Budget (SB) No. 1.
RTC Judge Marivic Daray of RTC branch 17 junked the petition after the prosecution lawyers failed to show up during the pre-trial conference on Friday morning.
Amando Virgil Ligutan, lawyer of the respondents, said the petition was now good as “dead.”
“We know that the case against the respondents was politically motivated. What’s the point of deliberating SB1 of 2015 when it’s already 2016?” he said.
Ligutan said prosecution lawyers earlier sought postponement of the pre-trial conference, saying that their lead counsel would not be around during the pre-trial conference.
But Ligutan said their request was denied by Judge Daray.
The executive department sought the passage of SB 1, which would allocate P2.8 billion –P2.4 billion of which would be used to pay off the balance of the South Road Properties loan.
The SB 1 discussion was postponed at least six times, prompting Daluz to file a case of mandamus against the BO-PK councilors, who comprised the majority of the city council.
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