Office wars: Radaza’s case vs. Chan dismissed
ANOTHER case filed by outgoing Lapu-Lapu City Lone District Rep. Paz Radaza against reelected Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan has been dismissed by the court.
The dismissal of civil case no. R-LLP-19-01787-CV in relation to his executive functions in deciding who will hold office at the City Hall, came after Radaza failed to appear during the mediation on March 30, 2022.
Chan defeated Radaza in the race for mayor in the May 9 polls.
Presiding Judge Mendulfo Pintor Jr. of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 72 in LapuLapu City issued the order of dismissal on May 16, 2022.
“Naklaro jud nga dunay full authority ang chief executive with regard to the property of the local government. At least natagaan og katin-awan ang function sa mayor nga siya dunay power to give office,” Chan said during a press conference on Wednesday, May 18.
(It is now clear that the chief executive has full authority with regard to the property of the local government. At least, the mayor’s function has been clarified, that he has the power to give office.)
Chan said this in relation to his move to remove, when he became mayor of the city in 2019, the Office of the Lone District representative, which was adjacent to his office.
During the previous administration, the mayor was Radaza while her daughter Aileen was the one who sat in the Congressman’s office.
When her term ended, Radaza ran for Congress while her husband, Arturo, ran against Chan.
Radaza won as congresswoman in 2019, while Arturo lost his bid for mayor against Chan.
That was the time when Chan sent notices to Representative Radaza to transfer to another place. But Chan’s notices reportedly “fell on deaf ears,” the reason Chan made a drastic move for her transfer.
Representative Radaza sought an injunction with an application for a temporary restraining order from the RTC, calling the mayor’s move illegal.
Mediation
Based on the order, the court issued an order on Feb. 28, directing the parties to appear before the Philippine Mediation Center at the Hall of Justice, which was reportedly received by the counsels of both parties on March 15.
“Despite due notice, the petitioner and counsel failed to appear during the said proceedings per Mediator’s Report,” read the order, citing the importance of their appearance as mandatory based on Section 4 of Rule 18 of the Amended Rules of Civil Procedure.
“The non-appearance of a party and counsel may be excused only for acts of God, force majeure, or duly substantiated physical inability,” it added, saying that a representative may appear on behalf of a party who is fully authorized in writing to enter into an amicable settlement to submit to alternative modes of dispute resolution, and to enter into stipulations or admissions of facts and documents.
Failure to appear without valid cause when duly notified shall cause the dismissal of the action stipulated under Section 5.
Radaza’s camp said, though, that they had not yet received a copy of the dismissal order, nor a copy of the previous order referring to the case of mediation from the court, as of Wednesday, May 16.
“We will decide on the appropriate action to take upon receipt of the order from the court,” said Kim Anthony Castro, Radaza’s counsel.
Estafa
Earlier this month, criminal and administrative charges filed against Chan by Radaza were dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman.
The charges stemmed from Chan’s authorizing in 2019 of the withdrawal of the criminal case for estafa which the City Government under then mayor Radaza had previously filed against Emeline Dumayak of SSVF-ADD Trading.
The Ombudsman said Radaza’s assertion that the withdrawal of the case caused undue injury to the city was speculative, as the withdrawal did not leave Lapu-Lapu City empty-handed with Chan filing the appropriate case on the matter with the Office of the Ombudsman.