■ APPEALS COURT REVERSES ORDER DISMISSING MAYOR GICA OF DUMANJUG

The Court of Appeals (CA) Special 18th Division has overturned the decision to dismiss Dumanjug Mayor Efren Guntrano “Gungun” Gica over charges of serious dishonesty and grave misconduct.

CA Associate Justice Marilyn Lagura-Yap said that Gica cannot be held administratively accountable for misconduct he allegedly committed during his previous term as vice mayor. Yap cited the Aguinaldo Doctrine or the Doctrine of Condonation as basis for overturning the Ombudsman’s decision to dismiss Gica.

Though the Aguinaldo Doctrine was abandoned by the Supreme Court (SC) in 2015, the CA argued that the rule still applies in Gica’s case. The charges against Gica were filed a year before the doctrine was abandoned by the SC.

“His reelection in the May 9, 2016 elections is considered a condonation of any past misconduct he may have committed. It bears stressing that the body politic who elected petitioner into office as mayor in the May 9, 2016 election was the same body politic who previously elected him as vice mayor,” Yap said.

Former Dumanjug Mayor Nelson Garcia, who filed the complaint against Gica, said he plans to question the CA’s decision. Even if the administrative cases against Gica have been dismissed, he has to contend with the criminal charges filed against him before the Sandiganbayan, Garcia said.

Last July 2017, the Ombudsman ordered Gica’s dismissal from service and perpetual disqualification from public office after he was found guilty of dishonesty and grave misconduct. Garcia filed the charges before the anti-graft office in 2014 over allegations that the then-vice mayor falsified receipts he secured from a restaurant in Cebu City for meals sponsored by the Municipal Government.

Gica said he was happy with the decision. “It proved, once and for all, that the allegations made by my political opponents were baseless and flimsy,” Gica said.