Court sheriff says Osmeña was misinformed

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has been misinformed.

This was how court sheriff Cid Caballes rationalized the situation Wednesday when Osmeña confronted and scolded him for allegedly demolishing structures in Barangay Capitol Site that were not specified in a court order he was implementing. Caballes denied doing so. “Gi-dismantle ra ang tents. As to sa balay, wala namo gidemolish ang houses nga wala maapil sa order, parehas sa president sa association didto. Though naapil sya sa case but wala man naapil iyang name sa writ of demolition order, mao wala namo apila,” Caballes said.

The sheriff was implementing the order to demolish over 100 structures on Lot No. 6085-A-1 owned by Mauricio Quijada, which was reportedly bought by another private entity.

But Osmeña said the sheriff was also demolishing the houses standing on a 4,728-square-meter public land owned by the government.

"I'm protecting government property. I'm protecting the City Hall tents I put there. You have no right to take that away. I have every right to pull the trigger to defend life and property. He doesn’t understand that. I’m giving him due warning," Osmeña said yesterday.

Caballes said he was just doing his job, as there was an order to resume and complete the demolition.

The demolition started last January 31 and the enforcement last February 7 was but a continuation.

“Wherefore, as prayed for, the concerned Court Sheriff is hereby ordered to RESUME and COMPLETE the demolition against defendants who remained in the premises of the subject properties involved herein for them to be physically ousted therefrom,” reads the order of Regional Trial Court Judge Sylva Aguirre-Paderanga. “Ministerial ra man ni amoa,” Caballes said. They reportedly arrived in Barangay Capitol Site Wednesday morning to continue their clearing operation along Don Gil Garcia Street of the structures in lot 6085A-1 with an area of 9,642 square meters owned by the heirs of Mauricio Quijada.

Armed with the order, Caballes said they told the structure owners to possibly remove their things.

While the demolition was ongoing, the barangay captain of Capitol Site, Manuel Guanzon, arrived and reportedly called Osmeña alleging Caballes and his team destroyed the tents and demolished the houses not included in court order.

Caballes said Osmeña arrived in the afternoon. When he offered his hand for a handshake, the mayor reportedly ignored the same and, instead, reportedly tugged at his ID.

“Isip amahan sa syudad, dako akong respect niya. Iyang gibira akong ID; tingali gitan-aw niya akong ngan,” he said.

WON’T SUE

The incident, which was captured on camera and posted on social media, was viewed at least 165,000 times as of 6 p.m. last Wednesday.

Despite what happened, Caballes said he will not file a case against the mayor. This despite Osmeña's challenge for the sheriff to do so.

“I challenge the sheriff, the owners of whoever, and the courts to file a case against me and I will fight back.”

“Let them file contempt. I'll tell you, if I'll share the facts of the story, many people will be implicated from the judiciary to the DENR…I've been monitoring this case for over a year. File contempt. They'll be the one's going to jail, not me,” the mayor added.

Osmeña said he will continue to monitor the area and will fight the court order.