‘Let Sonny O. stay in office’
The camp of Toledo City Mayor John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña has asked Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año to allow the chief executive to stay in office instead of serving his remaining four-month suspension for grave abuse of authority.
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) 7 Director Leocadio Trovela, through legal and legislative liaison service chief Romeo Benitez, sent a letter to Año asking for “guidance” on how to deal with Osmeña: Should he stay or should he go?
The confusion stemmed from the directive of DILG 7 Deputy Director Maria Loisella Lucino that Osmeña should finish serving his suspension, which would have ended on Sept. 14 had he not returned to his office last May. The order was served last Aug. 30.
Osmeña’s lawyer Rey Gealon hopes that the DILG secretary will grant their request after the Court of Appeals denied the motion for reconsideration filed by the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas.
“We are anticipating a prompt and favorable action in this regard,” said Gealon.
In the three-page decision, the appellate court reiterated that the Aguinaldo condonation doctrine is applied to Osmeña’s case since the supposed misconduct was committed prior to his current term.
Osmeña’s lawyers, Gealon and Floro Casas Jr., had filed a “very urgent motion” asking the Court of Appeals to clarify its decision that cleared the mayor of charges stemming from his refusal to release tax shares to Barangay Daanglungsod in 2017.
The appeals court dismissed the administrative case for grave abuse of authority against Osmeña last May.
It was the Office of the Ombudsman that ordered Osmeña’s one-year suspension last August 2017.
According to the records, Daanglungsod was supposed to receive P17.7 million as part of its share from real property tax for the third quarter of 2014. Osmeña refused to release the amount in order to protect government funds and properties because the real properties involved are part of a boundary dispute between Sangi and Daanglungsod. Sangi has sued the Toledo City Government regarding the boundary dispute.