‘Erring finding’: Nullify suspension, drop case, Ombuds asked

CEBU, Philippines - Provincial Board Member Horacio Franco asked the Office of the Ombudsman to nullify his two-month suspension and to dismiss the administrative case filed against him and other Medellin officials when he was still councilor.

Franco said the Ombudsman Office erred in finding that his act of supporting the declaration of the property of a certain Tirso Seares as nuisance per se, and in authorizing then mayor, now Councilor Ricardo Ramirez, to demolish the said structure, is not sanctioned by law.

The council also passed a resolution authorizing Ramirez to institute a civil case for ejectment against Seares in response to a written petition of more than 500 residents of Barangay Kawit, asking them to take action against the illegal structure built in the barangay road leading to the old wharf.

It was also supported in the legal opinion of lawyer Ritche Capahi of the Provincial Legal Office.

"Being part of the Sangguniang Bayan, he was well aware that if they did not act on the said petition, they would have exposed themselves to the risk of being charged with neglect of duty, especially if, during the time of their inaction despite the petition, an emergency happens and is not well-responded to because of the blockage of access by the illegal structure of Seares," read Franco's motion prepared by lawyer Ruth Restauro.

The anti-graft office earlier ruled that the municipal officials voluntarily pooled their efforts and cooperated with each other towards a common purpose of unceremoniously dispossessing Seares of his rightful occupation over the contested lot by summarily demolishing his dwelling.

Franco noted that Seares, after more than 30 years of alleged occupation of the said property, has not moved to legally substantiate his claims to remove all doubts on his rights over the property despite threats of demolition and his awareness of the complaints of other residents.

The PB member added that finding him and other SB members as guilty of simple misconduct is based on an overall grave mis-appreciation of facts and mis-application of the laws considering the clear absence of manifest intentional wrongdoing or deliberate violation of a rule of law or standard of behavior in the acts of the SB members, as well as the existence of the presumption of good faith and the clear sanctions of the law in favor of their actions.

The Office of the Ombudsman ordered the suspension of Ramirez, former vice mayor Juan Alfonso Lim, Councilors Joevenus Inot and Leonardo Montilla, former councilors Lee RJ Villapez, Raymond Olivar, Franco, Artemio Noynay, Conrado Mangubat, Kendrick Allen Lim, and Capahi.

Villapez is now the vice mayor, Ramirez and Alfonso now councilors, and Franco now a PB member, while the rest are no longer in the position. (FREEMAN)