Daluz to return to office next month

CEBU, Philippines —  Suspended Cebu City Councilor Jose Daluz III is set to return to office next month after serving six-month preventive suspension over unexplained Health.

He will officially return back to office on March 18, less than two months before the midterm elections, said Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Cebu City officer-in-charge, Emma Joyevelyn Calvo.

Calvo said DILG will no longer issue an assumption order.

Daluz said he plans to introduce one ordinance.

The councilor is not seeking reelection in the upcoming midterm elections. But he is the campaign manager of the Partido-Barug, local party of former mayor Michael Rama.

Daluz’s suspension stemmed from the ruling of the Office of the Ombudsman, which found him guilty of serious dishonesty.

Daluz failed to explain the sudden increase of his personal properties in the Statements of Assets Liabilities and Networth (SALN) he filed in 2007.

From P100,000 in personal properties in 2006, his properties increased to P1,029,000 in 2007, which according to the graft body a “disproportionate” to his salary as Cebu City councilor at  P412,154 at that time.

The P1,129,000 reportedly covers cash on hand/bank amounting to P549,000; pieces of jewelry amounting to P120,000; furniture/antiques  amounting to P280,000; and investment/education plan premium amounting to P80,000.

The DILG implemented the Ombudsman’s suspension order on September 17, 2018,

Daluz, in his petition, explained that the increase came from an inheritance from his mother upon the latter’s death on August 29, 2007; the dissolution of his marriage on June 5, 2007 for which he received P150,000 as return of his capital investment; and the P80,000 payment for a personal loan by a certain Amy Quichon in 2007. — KBQ (FREEMAN)