Gica back as mayor

Dumanjug, Cebu town Mayor Efren Guntrano Gica returned to officCeoynetisntueerdafyro.

This after the Court of Appeals (CA) reversed the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman to dismiss Gica from public office after he was found guilty of serious dishonesty and grave misconduct for allegedly falsifying a liquidation report.

Gica said he felt elated by the CA's decision and at the same time sad because he will only serve for less than a year before the May 2019 polls.

Rene Asentista, on the other hand, voluntarily vacated the mayor's office yesterday and re-assumed his post as the town's vice mayor.

“This is a welcome development,” said Asentista, in a phone interview.

Gica and Asentista are allied with the Liberal

But whether Gica's assumption is permitted, the regional Department of the Interior and Local Government office could not tell for now.

DILG-Region 7 legal officer Atty. Ian Kenneth Lucero said the office has not yet received a copy of the appellate court's decision.

He refused to issue an opinion as to Gica's assumption to shun confusion since no one knows for now what is stipulated under the decision.

He added the regional office is still awaiting the directive from DILG Central Office to avoid preempting any post action after CA gave its decision.

But Gica said he wrote a letter to the Sangguniang Bayan about his resumption.

The letter was approved by the SB during yesterday's special session. Seven of the eight town councilors are allied with Gica.

The mayor said the approved letter was enough for him to assume even without DILG's assumption order.

CA ruled in favor of Gica's petition contesting the Ombudsman resolutions dated October 18, 2016 and July 27, 2017 dismissing him as mayor.

The CA's decision was released last July 27.

Gica was barred from public service by the state's anti-graft body last November 2017 after the Ombudsman found him guilty of serious dishonesty and grave misconduct.

The Ombudsman's decision against Gica stemmed from a complaint filed by Gica's political rival, former Dumanjug mayor Nelson Garcia.

In his complaint, Garcia accused Gica of tampering a restaurant receipt to bloat the amount to P21,435 from P11,435 when he was still vice mayor in 2014.

He allegedly falsified his liquidation report and other supporting documents to conceal the misappropriation of P10,000 in public funds.

Gica was dismissed twice in 2016 and 2017 over this.

In his counter-affidavit, Gica said the P50,000 cash advance was spent in four different restaurants in different dates. The expenses reportedly totaled to P21,435.