OMBUD JUNKS CASE VS. OSMEñA, 7 OTHERS OVER AMBULANCE

For lack of probable cause, the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas has dismissed the case filed against Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, four other city councilors and two department heads for issuing a City-owned ambulance to a private individual. In a resolution, Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer II Rogie Fernandez said not all elements of the crime charged are present in the act committed. The resolution was also approved by Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Paul Elmer Clemente. In 2017, former Sambag I barangay captain Lemar Alcover accused Osmeña and Councilors Mary Ann De los Santos, Sisinio Andales, Eugenio Gabuya Jr. and Jerry Guardo of alleged malversation of public funds or property and violating Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act. The four councilors are all allies of Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan. Also named respondents of the case were Department of General Services chief Ronaldo Malacora, former City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office head Nagiel Bañacia and Guardo’s wife, Aileen, who was the appointed head of the Barangay Mayor’s Office in Sambag I at the time. She was elected barangay captain of Sambag I, defeating Alcover in the election last October. Earlier, Alcover alleged that the delivery of the ambulance to Aileen was “illegal and irregular” because the latter was neither appointed nor elected as an official of the barangay. However, the anti-graft office said that even if the ambulance was entrusted to Aileen, the acknowledgment receipt for equipment (ARE) of the vehicle was still under Bañacia’s name. /