Dalaguete mayor suspended for nine months

THE regional Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG-7) confirmed the nine-month suspension of Dalaguete Mayor Ronald Allan Cesante for “having material and financial interests in transactions requiring approval from his office.”

DILG-7 Regional Director Rene Burdeos told Cebu Daily News that Cesante personally picked up the suspension notice at their office in sitio Sudlon, Barangay Lahug, Cebu City last Thursday afternoon.

Burdeos said the mayor obtained the official notice in the presence of DILG Cebu Provincial Director Jerome Gonzales.

The Ombudsman ordered Cesante suspended for nine months on Nov. 15, 2015. DILG 7 received the order last Dec. 17, 2015 but was only able to implement it yesterday.

Burdeos said they still had to secure a clearance from their central office and from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) prior to its implementation.

Mayor Cesante, in a separate interview, confirmed his suspension.

Cesante said they already filed a petition for a Temporary Restraining Order at the Court of Appeals and an urgent motion asking the Ombudsman to decide on his motion for reconsideration which he filed in December.

“Pending the decision of the CA, I am constrained to issue a statement,” he told CDN in a phone interview. Starting on Friday, Vice Mayor Jeffrey Belciña assumed as the acting mayor.

The case against Cesante stemmed from a complaint filed by former municipal engineer and now Cesante’s challenger in this year’s elections, Ildebrando Almagro.

Almagro is running under the Garcia-led One Cebu while Cesante is seeking reelection under the Liberal Party (LP).

Dalaguete reportedly loaned P18 million for a public market project from the Landbank of the Philippines (LBP). Mayor Cesante allegedly acquired four stalls now occupied by his wife, Joanna.

Almagro alleged that Cesante started to occupy the stalls in 2004 and that the mayor drafted the contract of lease for the four stalls five days before his term ended in 2007.

He added that Cesante and his wife had been occupying the stalls without a contract, which would have amounted to a monthly rental of P7,000 and spaces worth P250,000 each.