Alcover to sue Osmeña for ‘promoting violence’

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City Councilor Pastor Alcover Jr. intends to file a case against Mayor Tomas Osmeña for allegedly confronting a court sheriff during a court-ordered demolition in Barangay Capitol Site last week.

Alcover told The FREEMAN that he will consult his lawyers first before filing the case before the Office of the Ombudsman.

In a video that made rounds on the social media, Osmeña could be seen pointing his finger at and grabbing the ID lanyard of sheriff El Cid Caballes, who allegedly insisted on demolishing structures that were not indicated in the court order.

“Mura man gud og ga-promote og culture of violence atong mayor. Akong estoryahon akong abogado para sa pagtan-aw sa kaso,” said Alcover.

In his privilege speech at the session yesterday, Alcover questioned Osmeña’s move to “intimidate” Caballes during their confrontation last week.

The City Council approved the motion of Alcover to provide the Office of the Ombudsman a copy of his speech despite eight councilor-allies of Osmeña abstaining from voting.

“Violence will never justify anything. No ideology and lofty ideals can justify violence and intimidation,” Alcover said.

In a separate interview, Alcover said he forgot to move his second motion, which seeks to condemn the “inappropriate actions” of Osmeña against Caballes.

Alcover said the actions of the mayor, as seen in the video, were a form of “harassment and intimidation.”

“As politicians, we may talk bad things against one another, but we will never resort to violence and intimidation just to make our point,” he said.

He said Osmeña, being the father of the city, should not promote the culture of “violence” just because he was cheered on by residents in the area.

On February 7, Caballes implemented a court order to demolish houses along Don Gil Garcia Street, but some residents complained when he was about to include in the demolition the houses on a 4,728-square-meter public domain land owned by the government.

Osmeña said the court order was against structures on Lot No. 6085-A-1 owned by Mauricio Quijada, which was reportedly bought by another private entity.

The mayor already challenged Caballes or anyone to sue him for contempt, saying he can “fight back.”

Councilor Joy Augustus Young said he was well-versed with the case involving the property in question, adding he could have punched the sheriff if he was present during the demolition. —JMD (FREEMAN)