City lawyer questions order's authenticity

THE Cebu City Legal Office questioned the order of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) denying the motions to defer the proceedings of a complaint filed against city officials.

City Attorney Jerone Castillo said that the City will verify the authenticity of the document it received from the DILG Central Office in Quezon City.

"We have to verify this (document) because it is just a mere photocopy," Castillo said of the order related to the complaint lawyer Reymelio Delute filed over the distribution of calamity aid to some city officials and employees.

Delute ran and lost against the late Basak San Nicolas barangay captain George Rama.

City lawyers filed five motions against Delute's complaint--omnibus motion to dismiss and to rule on the special affirmative defenses, motion to strike out or expunge from the records some items in Delute's Oct. 15, 2014 comment, motion to drop the charges against Councilor Mary Ann delos Santos, urgent motion to resolve pending incidents and defer further proceedings, and motion on the issue of jurisdiction.

These were all denied by the DILG.

Castillo said a copy of the order was faxed to the City Legal Office and some parts of the document could not be read.

Lawyer Christopher Tiu, the DILG hearing officer, also failed to sign the document.

Instead, somebody else signed on Tiu's behalf, without indicating the signatory's full name.

The date of the hearing on the last page of the fivepage notice was also altered and hand-written

In the order, the DILG set the continuation of the preliminary conference on Feb. 23 at the DILG 7 office in Barangay Lahug.

The order was dated Feb. 13 but was only received by the City Legal Office last Monday, Feb. 16.

Castillo also said that a motion for reconsideration (MR) will be filed before the DILG.

"Assuming that the document is original, then we have to file the MR because our question on this is the jurisdiction and we have to elevate this to a superior court," Castillo explained.

Delute, for his part, said that the order is proof that his stand on the matter is right.

“My case is strengthened because COA (Commission on Audit) gave the City a notice of disallowance that the calamity assistance they collected is not in consonance with the law, which is why they (city officials and employees) were ordered to return the amount,” said Delute.

Through a resolution passed by the Council following the Oct. 15, 2013 earthquake and Nov. 8, 2013 super typhoon Yolanda, officials and employees were eligible to receive P20,000 calamity aid.

Some councilors and employees already returned the calamity assistance while a couple opted not to receive it.

Impleaded in the case are Mayor Michael Rama, Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella and nine councilors who received the alleged "illegal" distribution of the calamity assistance two years ago.